A Florida rec flag football game ended with a felony arrest after a postgame handshake line turned into a pileup. Police say a coach put an opposing teen in a chokehold, and both he and his daughter now face charges.
Brandon Mayer, 37, was booked on Oct. 28 on a felony charge of battery by strangulation, according to court documents viewed by The New York Post. Here's what's been reported:
- The date: The incident happened Oct. 20, during the postgame handshake.
- The spark: Eyewitnesses told authorities a 16-year-old player pulled a 15-year-old opponent to the ground by her hair, per court documents.
- The chokehold: Mayer, the 16-year-old's father and coach, allegedly held the 15-year-old in a chokehold for about 15 seconds. The head referee described it as a "choking mechanism."
- The pileup: The 15-year-old's father, who coaches her team, jumped in and the group went down. He says he took a cleat to the face from the 16-year-old while trying to get up.
- The charges: Mayer was released the next afternoon on $75,000 bond. CBS12 reports the 16-year-old was charged with simple battery.
Two Versions of the Story
The 15-year-old told CBS12 the trouble started when she needled her opponent after the game. She said the opposing player had been mocking her team's loss, and she fired back that it was only a rec game. She also described the hold as so tight she nearly blacked out.
Her father, speaking about the grab, said a coach trying to break up a fight would typically go for the waist, not what he saw.
Police heard a different account on Oct. 28. Per the report, the 16-year-old said the other player got in her face, and Mayer said he was trying to separate the two in a "mirrored fashion." The case now rests on whose version holds up against the eyewitnesses and the head ref.
Both charges are allegations, and nothing in the reporting indicates the case has been resolved.
The takeaway for anyone running a rec league: the handshake line is supposed to be the easy part. At a game where the stakes were a Saturday afternoon and a participation snack, two coaches and a couple of teenagers ended up in a heap on the turf, and one adult ended up in a booking photo.
Source: Nypost