A high school hockey coach has resigned after he allegedly chest-bumped and bit a referee on the ice after the game.
William C. Kenney III, a Taunton High School assistant hockey coach, reportedly “chest-bumped, shoved, and bit a referee after his team lost a game Wednesday night was apparently upset over an icing call made during the first period,” the Boston Globe reports.
The referee pulled Kenney’s jersey over his head, and the two began wrestling while the two teams were shaking hands.
Kenney had reportedly been taunting the ref from the bench all game, including saying “he hadn’t had his workout that day and he would ‘kick (the referee’s) a —’ as his workout,” according to MSN.
“I was absolutely befuddled that I was witnessing it, from start to finish. Instinctively, my law enforcement training kicked in and I assisted [a Foxborough police] lieutenant, but I was utterly embarrassed for Taunton High School,” Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney, who was in the stands during the game, tells the Globe.
“When kids see this, it sends absolutely the wrong message,” Heagney says. “His conduct was extremely unbecoming. He’s supposed to be a role model for these young student athletes.”
According to MSN, after the coach was taken off the ice and arrested, “parents from Taunton reportedly got upset and yelled at the officers.”
Even as officers attempted to intervene, Kenney was “swinging haymakers and punches left and right.”
According to witnesses, he was belligerent, yelling, screaming, and resisting arrest.
“It was like a mob mentality,” Heagney says. “The Foxborough Police Department should be commended on their response.”
Kenney was arrested on charges of assault and battery and disorderly conduct and during a court appearance, he entered a not guilty plea.
Kenney’s team lost the game 9-1.
7 News reports the coach resigned after the incident:
A Taunton HS coach has resigned after getting into a fight with a hockey referee http://t.co/pUKExI85RF #7News
— 7News Boston WHDH (@7News) January 16, 2015
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.