Jonatan Gomez Madrigal, 39, was unsteady on his feet as he approached his 51-year-old victim at an ATM on the Princes Highway at Corrimal about 9.10pm on May 27. 

Earlier that day he had joined hundreds of CrossFit loyalists in competition on the floor of WIN Entertainment Centre, in the hope of earning passage to the games’ world event.  

He would later tell a psychologist he downed 12 beers and half a bottle of rum in his disappointment at not making the cut. 

In Corrimal, heavily drunk, Madrigal leaned on a car bonnet and appeared to be looking at a woman through the front windscreen of her car. 

CCTV cameras were recording as the woman’s husband, who was completing a transaction at a nearby ATM, politely asked him “can you move away from my car please?”. 

At that, Madrigal began yelling at the man and encouraging him to have fight. 

“What are you going to do?” he said. “Give me $100”. 

He walked at speed towards the man, who raised both hands in the air and said, “I don’t want to fight”. 

As the man backed away, Madrigal walked to the ATM, seeming to look for cash. He later threw a punch at the retreating man, who managed to block the hit. As the man continued to back away, Madrigal swung himself around a metal parking sign and kicked him, before falling to the ground. 

He got to his feet and pursued the man as he attempted to get inside his car, then punched him, causing the man to land on his back in the middle of the road. 

A friend of the victim’s intervened to end the assault, and Madrigal ran away. 

But he returned to the area moments later as the victim was describing him to police. 

In Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, Madrigal’s lawyer described him as “a family man” who was held in high regard in the community.

“There is simply no explanation why somebody with that type of background would commit this type of offence,” he said. “It’s completely out of character and bizarre behaviour. He simply says, ‘I don’t remember, I was heavily intoxicated’.” 

The court heard Madrigal managed a CrossFit gym near his Forest Lodge, NSW home, a detail that bemused Magistrate Michael Stoddart. 

“He manages a CrossFit?” the magistrate said. “So his business is fitness, he’s trying to get into Crossfit Games and he’s drinking half a bottle of rum and 12 beers? I don’t understand that … He trains for CrossFit Games then decides to consume copious amounts of alcohol?” 

“He was knocked out [of contention],” his lawyer replied. “That doesn’t give him an excuse, but Your Honour’s almost inviting me to explain.” 

His lawyer called on the magistrate to factor in Madrigal’s bipolar disorder and ADHD as factors that would make him an unsuitable “vehicle for general deterrence”.  

But a report tendered to the court noted Madrigal had “focused predominantly on his own consequences”, rather than the effects of the assault on his victim.  

Magistrate Stoddart ordered Madrigal to spend 10 months in prison, with a non-parole period of four months. 

Madrigal immediately lodged an appeal. 

He was held in custody overnight, until a bail application – ultimately successful – could be heard the following day. 

It is a condition of Madrigal’s release that his supporter forfeit $5000 as security. 

The appeal will be heard on May 22. 

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