Steele County Attorney's Office will not press charges against football coach involved in facemask grab - Post Bulletin | Rochester Minnesota news, weather, sports

OWATONNA, Minn. — The Steele County Attorney’s Office will not be filing charges against the Blooming Prairie Recreation Association’s volunteer youth football coach who grabbed an opposing player’s face mask.

While the video of the incident was “alarming,” there is no evidence that the coach’s intentions were criminal, Steele County Attorney Robert Jarrett wrote in a memo.

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The incident occurred during a youth football game on Oct. 5, between BPRA and a Byron Youth Football Association team, when an 11-year-old Byron player was running after a Blooming Prairie player. As the two players ran out of bounds, the Byron player’s face mask was grabbed by a Blooming Prairie coach.

“There is insufficient evidence that a reasonable jury would find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an assault took place,” Jarrett wrote.

A person is guilty of an assault if they’ve intentionally inflicted bodily harm on another person, the memo said.

In football, a player’s facemask being grabbed is a foul, Jarrett wrote. However, when a facemask is grabbed, it’s “often accidental given the fast pace of play and quick reactions.”

"This case is different as it was a coach face-masking a player, however, lends toward being a football-type act and not an act whose purpose is to cause harm to another,” the memo said.

Video of the incident, which was shared with the Post Bulletin, shows that the 11-year-old player disengaged with the other team’s player before going out of bounds prior to the coach grabbing his face mask.

According to the memo, the coach did not confront or further engage with the player and told law enforcement that he was attempting to stop the player from going out of bounds.

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"The coach said he felt terrible but did not intend for anything malicious to happen," Jarrett wrote.

Sandy Baiza, the mother of the player, previously told the Post Bulletin that no one spoke about what had happened, and the game continued on. After rewatching the video, Baiza said she and her husband called the Blooming Prairie Police Department to file a report.

The 11-year-old was evaluated by EMTs, who did not find any severe injuries, Baiza said. Blooming Prairie police arrived around halftime to take statements from the coach.

The game was played on the Blooming Prairie football field at the community’s high school, but the district is not affiliated with BPRA.

“Appropriate action will be taken when we have concluded our inquiry,” a Blooming Prairie Recreation Association Facebook post said on Oct. 7. “The coach in question will not be participating in activities until further notice.”

The Byron Youth Football Association previously said in an email to the Post Bulletin last week that they were monitoring the situation but could not comment further.

“The Byron Youth Football Association is dedicated to ensuring a safe and positive experience for our players and for players in our surrounding communities,” the email said. “We support the safety and well being of all members, including the player and family involved in this incident.”

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SCAO memo

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