What began with a brief stop at Washington’s Reflecting Pool has turned into a much bigger legal fight for former Olympian David Hearn.

After prosecutors dropped the felony case against the 67-year-old, Hearn’s attorneys are now asking the court to make sure the charges cannot simply return. They want the case dismissed with prejudice, arguing that the government should not get another chance to prosecute Hearn over the same incident.

Hearn was arrested on June 19 after stopping at the Reflecting Pool during a bike ride. He had reached into the water after noticing a section of the newly installed blue liner peeling away. Prosecutors initially accused him of damaging the material, and a grand jury later indicted him on a felony destruction-of-property charge.

However, the case took a dramatic turn when prosecutors moved to dismiss the charge. According to the government’s filing, documents from the Interior Department pointed to a rushed and flawed installation of the pool liner, including repeated failures and extensive peeling. That evidence undercut the original allegation that Hearn was responsible for the damage.

But the dismissal was without prejudice. That distinction is now at the heart of Hearn’s legal battle.

His lawyers want the court to close the door permanently. Attorney Steven Levin said the government “did the right thing” by abandoning the prosecution, but argued it had done so “the wrong way.”

Hearn’s legal team has gone further, describing the prosecution as politically motivated and accusing the government of moving too quickly before it had enough information about what actually caused the liner to fail. They argue that evidence of pre-existing damage should have been considered before Hearn was indicted.

The controversy has also spilled into the Trump administration. President Donald Trump criticized the decision to drop the case, saying U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had “choked” and “folded like an umbrella.”

Pirro’s office, however, maintained that the newly obtained Interior Department documents changed the picture surrounding the pool damage.

For Hearn, the issue is no longer simply about getting the original charge dismissed. His attorneys say they are considering further legal action, including civil claims, requests for sanctions, reimbursement of legal expenses and possible referrals involving the prosecutors.

What was David Hearn’s initial reaction to the accusations?

According to reports from The Washington Post and Fox News, Hearn had just completed a more than 50-mile bike ride when he stopped at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. With his background in materials science, he was curious about the condition of the pool and wanted to take a closer look at the peeling blue coating.

“I saw a piece of this loose end of this blue coating … I reached out and touched the end of that piece that was loose but still attached to the bottom,” Hearn told ABC News. He insisted that he never pulled or damaged the material.

“I did not remove, I did not damage, I did not rip, tear, break, destroy or harm any part of the Reflecting Pool,” he said, adding that the pool was in the same condition after he walked away as it had been before he arrived.

Hearn said he stopped after a National Park employee told him to, and he began making his way back toward his bicycle. That was when Park Police intervened and arrested him. The incident soon spread online, with footage of Hearn being detained circulating on social media. He said the arrest caught him completely off guard.

“I had no idea I was about to be arrested,” Hearn said. “They didn’t say they were charging me, but they did start to handcuff me.”

He also claimed he was not allowed to make a phone call during the following five hours and said he was not initially told what charges he would face.

The 67-year-old was hardly a stranger to high-pressure situations. Hearn represented the United States at three Olympic Games: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, and built an impressive career in slalom canoeing. He won multiple C1 World Championship medals, including two individual golds and six team titles.

Yet decades after competing on the biggest stage in sport, Hearn suddenly found himself fighting a very different battle.

Hearn’s legal team has since argued that the case was wrongly brought and has accused the government of making him a scapegoat.