Davier Massey was held without bail after police said a banned customer attacked a worker.
CHELTENHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Prosecutors have filed an attempted murder case against a Philadelphia man accused of stabbing a Planet Fitness employee after returning to a Wyncote gym where police said he had been banned.
The criminal case against Davier Massey, 28, places a short workplace confrontation inside a larger court process in Montgomery County. Police said the employee suffered multiple stab wounds and life-threatening injuries April 2 at the Planet Fitness on South Easton Road. Massey was arrested near the gym, denied bail and sent to the county correctional facility pending further proceedings.
The charging list is broad. Massey faces criminal attempt murder of the first degree, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, harassment and disorderly conduct. The most serious count signals that authorities believe the evidence supports more than a spontaneous fight or low-level assault. Still, the charges are allegations. Prosecutors must prove the case in court, and public reports reviewed for this article did not show a confirmed plea from Massey. His case was first expected to move through a preliminary hearing, a step that tests whether enough evidence exists to hold charges for trial.
Police said the facts began before the 911 call. Massey had been banned from the Planet Fitness on April 1 over an unpaid bill, according to local reports citing investigators. On April 2, police said, he returned to the gym twice. During the second return, he allegedly caused a disturbance and became involved in an altercation with an employee. Officers and medics were called at about 12:33 p.m. and found the victim with multiple stab wounds. Cheltenham Township police said the employee was taken to an area trauma center for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
The court case may depend on details that have not yet been fully released. Investigators have not publicly stated whether Massey brought a weapon into the gym, picked one up there or discarded it after leaving. They have not identified the employee, described his role at the business or said whether he was the person who handled the ban the previous day. Police also have not released the amount of the unpaid bill or the language used when Massey was told he could not return. Those facts could help explain motive, intent and the chain of events prosecutors may present.
Police said responding officers found Massey a short distance from the gym and took him into custody soon after the stabbing. That arrest left investigators to reconstruct what happened inside the business before officers arrived. A gym like the Wyncote Planet Fitness may have employee records, membership records and security cameras, but police have not publicly said what records they collected. Witness accounts from employees or customers could also become part of the case. Officials have not said how many people saw the altercation or whether anyone tried to separate the two men.
Planet Fitness responded with a brief statement focused on the injured employee and the investigation. “We are saddened by the incident that took place at our Cheltenham location,” the company said. The company said its thoughts were with the team member as he recovered, thanked local law enforcement for quick action and said the franchise owner was fully supporting investigators. The statement did not include the employee’s name, a medical update, a description of the confrontation or any comment on the unpaid bill.
The Wyncote location remained part of the police investigation after the arrest. Local reports described the gym as closed after the attack, with people arriving to find that an emergency had interrupted normal operations. The stabbing took place during the day in a commercial area, not during an overnight break-in or a private dispute away from the business. That setting matters because the alleged violence unfolded in a workplace where employees were serving customers and where other people may have been present. Police have not said whether the gym reopened the same day or later.
The next legal step listed in early reports was an April 16 preliminary hearing. Public reporting reviewed for this update did not confirm the result of that hearing, leaving the current procedural posture unclear from news accounts alone. Court records, future hearing notices or new police statements are expected to clarify whether the charges were held for trial, changed or scheduled for another proceeding.
As of April 27, Massey remained publicly identified as the defendant accused in the stabbing, while the employee remained unnamed. The case stands on a narrow but serious set of allegations: a ban over an unpaid bill, a return to the gym and an attack that left a worker hospitalized.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.