MUNCIE, Ind. — For the second time in less than 14 months, a Muncie man has been arrested after allegedly making threats at a local fitness center.

Brandon Jay Peterson, 29, was arrested Wednesday on preliminary counts of intimidation and disorderly conduct.

In an affidavit, Muncie police investigator Jami Brown reported Peterson last Friday was at Anytime Fitness, 3600 S. Chandler St., when he approached a woman who was exercising and made sexually derogatory comments about her workout attire.

The woman, who quickly left the business, said Peterson continued to insult her. The incident was recorded on surveillance video, the court document said.

On Saturday, Brown reported, the manager of Anytime Fitness called Peterson and told him he was no longer welcome at the southside facility.

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Police were called to the gym after Peterson then came to Anytime Fitness, “yelling profanities and kicking the door.”

Witnesses said the Muncie man — described as “extremely loud and belligerent” — threatened to wait in the parking lot and kill a woman who was then inside.

He also reportedly screamed at a group of women in the parking lot, calling one “fat” and directing homophonic slurs at another.

As officers arrived at the scene, Peterson told them “there was a problem with our society” in that “once a woman complains,” a man is treated unfairly, police said.

Peterson also yelled about an upcoming Gay Pride parade in Indianapolis, the affidavit said, telling officers that people were celebrating a “parade about sex,” and “everyone wonders why our country is collapsing.”

Brown reported she reviewed a recording of the 911 call from Anytime Fitness and could hear Peterson screaming in the background, at one point shouting, “I’m gonna kill her.”

The Muncie man continued to be held in the Delaware County jail on Thursday under a $6,000 bond.

Brown reported Peterson has been the target of no-trespassing orders from at least 10 businesses in Muncie “for calling people racial slurs (and) starting arguments with women about their clothing.”

He is set to stand trial Sept. 22 in Delaware Circuit Court 5 on four charges — battery resulting in bodily injury, disorderly conduct and two counts of intimidation — filed last year after a disturbance at Planet Fitness, 1301 E. McGalliard Road.

City police reported on April 29, 2021, that other people working out in the northside gym intervened after Peterson began “harassing a female in the gym about what she was wearing and was getting verbally aggressive with her.”

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“Peterson (then) got into another male’s face and began to throw punches,” an affidavit said.

On May 11, Peterson was charged with two misdemeanors — battery resulting in bodily injury and disorderly conduct — in Anderson City Court.

A probable cause affidavit in that case is sealed and not available for public review.

In that Madison County case, a man has been granted a protective order against Peterson.

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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man arrested 2nd time for making fitness center threats

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