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Wisconsin Coach punches teen player after a loss

July 10, 2012

In Indiana a Wisconsin girl’s basketball coach punched one of his teenage players in the face and threw her to the ground after a loss at the Indiana Fieldhouse Sports Complex, police said Tuesday. Fred Freeman of Hartford, Wis., has been charged with battery after the incident.

“The victim told officers her basketball coach was verbally abusing her after the team lost their game. She reported that during a verbal altercation he punched her in the face, threw her to the ground and got on top of her with his hands around her throat,” said police spokesman Officer Tom Weger.

Freeman was arrested afterward at a restaurant and he admitted to restraining the girl but claimed to have been the victim. Yet Jean Washington, the parent of another player, told officers she saw Freeman striking the victim. She said Freeman “grabbed the victim tightly around her torso” and Washington heard the victim “tell the suspect to get off of her. The two fell to the ground, and the victim continued to resist the suspect. The suspect and victim made it back to their feet, and the suspect grabbed the victim again and slammed her back into the ground.”

A police report says Freeman’s daughter also was nearby and implored for him to stop the attack. “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 said. Washington then guided the victim back inside the building while Freeman left with the other members of the team.

Freeman was due to be released on Tuesday from the Hamilton County Jail. It was not clear if he had an attorney.

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