A coach's daughter pleaded with him to stop his alleged assault on another girls basketball player at a Fishers, Ind., sports complex Monday before the man eventually was arrested by police and charged with battery, according to an incident report.
The coach's daughter and the girl had engaged in a brief verbal stand-off before the coach got involved, the report states. Fred Freeman, 47, of Hartford, Wis., faces a battery charge.
A 17-year-old girl told police that Freeman grabbed her, threw her to the ground and punched her. The alleged victim was a member of a high school-age girls basketball team called the Wisconsin Stealers, coached by Freeman, who had driven his players from their homes in Wisconsin to participate in a high school girls basketball tournament at the Indiana Fieldhouse Sports Complex in Fishers.
Jean Washington, a parent of a player from another team, told police she witnessed the incident, according to the report.
"The suspect
That's when the coach's daughter apparently sought to intervene.
"Ms. Washington observed the suspect's daughter yelling, 'No, Daddy.' The suspect then got up and threw the victim's badge into (a) tree," the report states. "Ms. Washington then escorted the victim back inside the building as the suspect left the area with the other team members."
After witnesses called 911, police located Freeman at a local restaurant. Freeman told police the teen attacked him first, the report states, and that he was trying to restrain her. A parent, however, told police she witnessed Freeman strike the teen first. The alleged victim is a Milwaukee resident.
Freeman was held at the Hamilton County Jail overnight. A Hamilton County judge this morning decided to release him on his own recognizance, which means he does not have to pay a previously set $5,000 bond to get out, said officer Tom Weger of the Fishers Police Department.
A court date has not been scheduled.
