Cable Technician Arrested for Giving Client a Hug

A 70-year-old woman is saying a cable technician went too far when he gave her a hug.

Karen Loest, a retired sheriff's deputy, said it happened at her home outside Denver as the technician was finishing up a job earlier this month. 

“He was compressing my chest, my arms were sore and hurting,” she told Inside Edition. 

Loest and her son Mike demonstrated what she said happened for Inside Edition's cameras. “I got up to see him out the door and I took a couple of steps and then he put me [in a hug],” Loest said. 

"I said, ‘OK, OK, you need to leave," she added. 

“He finally turned and went out the door, and as he walked out, he kept saying, ‘Sorry ma’am, sorry ma’am, sorry ma’am,’” she added. 

Cops charged David Novinski with negligent bodily injury to an at-risk person due to her age.

Since news of the arrest emerged, many have wondered whether someone should end up in court over a hug.

Inside Edition posed the question to Loest, who said, “Well, they didn't experience what I experienced.”

Inside Edition spoke to Novinski’s lawyer Mike McCullough about the case. McCullough said his client should not have been charged because he was merely being friendly.

"He is from Oklahoma and he is a great guy. ... He hugs everybody. He hugs people at work, he hugs friends, he hugs people around him. He gave her a gentle hug and he left," McCullough said. 

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