COLUMBIA, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) – A girls’ basketball coach in Connecticut is facing charges after police said he hit a parent with his car following an argument.
Connecticut State Police identified the suspect as 29-year-old Bryan Baez-Rivera.
The incident happened on Saturday around 11:20 a.m. at the Horace Porter School in Columbia.
The victim told responding officers that he was attending a girls’ youth basketball game at the school and said he was involved in an argument with the opposing team’s coach.
Police said the victim tried to approach the coach’s vehicle in the parking lot.
Surveillance video then shows the coach hitting the parent with his car, causing the victim to roll onto the hood of the vehicle before falling to the ground.
Witnesses said the victim suffered a broken nose, a concussion and other minor injuries.
State police confirmed the parent had “visible injuries” and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the coach cooperated with police. Baez-Rivera reportedly called police himself to say he stopped in a nearby parking lot where he would wait for officers to arrive.
Baez-Rivera, however, had a different account of what happened.
He told police that he was coaching the girls’ basketball game and got involved in a verbal argument with a parent after the game.
Baez-Rivera told police that as he was leaving the parking lot, the parent chased him on foot and said he was “not able to avoid a collision,” police said.
Baez-Rivera told police he left the scene out of concern for his own safety and the safety of the passengers in his vehicle, which included children.
Surveillance video showed that the victim did, in fact, interfere with Baez-Rivera’s path of travel; however, state police said Baez-Rivera appeared to make no attempt to avoid striking the victim.
Baez-Rivera was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor, second-degree breach of peace, and second-degree reckless endangerment.
He was later released on a $5,000 bond and scheduled to appear at Rockville Superior Court on Jan. 23.
The Department of Children and Families was advised of the incident, and the case remains under investigation.
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