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UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS

Brawls involving a John F. Kennedy High football coach on the field and band members in the stands after a game against a Lake Charles school left one coach bloodied, another arrested and questions about how things got out of hand so fast

Tuesday September 23, 2003

By Pierce W. Huff
Staff writer

Kennedy High School assistant football coach Ron Alvarez was suspended Monday, the first in a likely series of repercussions as the New Orleans school system sorts out one of the ugliest incidents of game time violence in memory.

Tapes of the melee in Lake Charles on Friday night, as Barbe High School narrowly defeated Kennedy in a brand new stadium, seem to show Alvarez throwing a clipboard at a game official and assaulting a Barbe assistant coach. As the violence escalates, members of the Kennedy marching band are seen attacking spectators in adjacent bleachers, kicking and pummeling at least one person to the point of apparent unconsciousness.

Alvarez was arrested at the stadium Friday and charged with second-degree battery for allegedly punching Barbe assistant coach Paul Demarie. Demarie suffered a cut on his forehead that required stitches. Alvarez was released without bond late Friday night.

Alvarez "has been relieved of his duties with pay until further investigation of the incident," New Orleans schools spokeswoman Tia Alexander said Monday. No one connected to Kennedy's team, band or school would comment. Kennedy head coach Terry Freeman said he couldn't talk but acknowledged that he has retained an attorney.

Schools Superintendent Tony Amato called Friday's events "unfortunate" and said Alvarez set a poor example.

"When something like this

happens, the whole point of the sporting event is lost," he said. "High school athletics should teach discipline and sportsmanship."

Investigation continues

Amato said he expects an investigation into the incident to be concluded in a few days and said those involved would be disciplined accordingly.

Amato spent part of Monday on the phone with Calcasieu Parish Superintendent Jude Theriot, who was at the game and recounted Friday night's events. Amato said Theriot told him the Barbe coach stepped between Alvarez and another Calcasieu administrator.

Amato said he has heard rumors that the fight may have been precipitated by racial slurs and is investigating that allegation. But the slurs would be no excuse for the violence, Amato said.

Amato said the district is reviewing its security procedures and now may send more security staff along with sports teams.

The melee was a nasty ending to a close football game. Witnesses said the altercation on the field was followed by several fights in the bleachers involving the Kennedy band as Barbe eked out a 19-18 victory.

Two Lake Charles men, Jeremy Freeman, 19, and Malcolm Hawkins, 17, were arrested and charged with simple battery in connection with the fighting in the stands. No Kennedy students were arrested.

Juliet Webb of Lake Charles attended the game with her daughter and sat in the visitors stands beside the Kennedy band because of an overflow crowd on the Barbe side of the field. Kennedy's band, under the direction of Vurnell Ford, arrived at the game at halftime, she said.

More charges may follow

Webb said there were no problems in the stands until the game's final seconds.

"We scored last and our quarterback had the ball and he just kneeled," Webb said. "Then we had just a few seconds left, and that's when Alvarez threw that clipboard at the ref. So some of our coaches came onto the field to find out what was going on and the next thing you know it just broke out on the field. And then I'm sitting right next to Kennedy's band, and they just jumped over that little rail.

"They were beating people up in the bleachers," she said. "They took one of the boys halfway up the bleachers and just literally threw him all the way to the bottom of the bleachers."

Sgt. Mark Kraus of the Lake Charles Police Department, who was at the game, said Monday that the department is collecting tapes of the incident and additional charges may follow a close review of those tapes. He said he expects the full cooperation of New Orleans school officials.

One videotape shows Alvarez apparently hitting Demarie and also shows a spectator being "beaten and then thrown down" eight or 10 steps onto a stadium walkway, Kraus said. Band members also are shown beating and kicking a second person, who appears to be unconscious. "If I'm not mistaken, they even threw an instrument toward his head and hit him in the head," Kraus said.

'It's pathetic'

Webb's account of what she saw parallels the taped evidence. She said when the fight broke out "one of the little boys was lying flat between the bleachers, and they were stomping on him nonstop, nonstop, and they hit him with instruments and everything. And there was no Lake Charles police on that side."

Barbe football coach and athletic director Jimmy Shaver said it was worst thing he had seen in 30 years of coaching. "It's pathetic," he told a Lake Charles newspaper. "I've never seen such a case of poor sportsmanship, from the coaches, the band, their fans, everyone."

In anticipation of a large crowd, there were 20 police officers at the game. Eighteen were from the Lake Charles Police Department and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office. Two New Orleans officers, Michael Kitchens and Olivia Fontenot, were with the Kennedy team, NOPD spokesman Paul Accardo said.

Demarie told a Lake Charles newspaper that Alvarez "was going after our principal and I just got in front of him."

Louisiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Tommy Henry said the association has sent a letter to both schools requesting information on the melee. A sportsmanship meeting may be forthcoming, Henry said.

"After I get all information needed, I will look at it and decide if we will have a sportsmanship hearing to address this matter," he said. "It depends on the reports, when we get the reports and a get a chance to review them."

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