CONNOR B.
BURTON, ASSISTANT TERESA DUDLEY, VICTIM SERVICES
CAMPBELL R. HOUSH, ASSISTANT KATTY HERNANDEZ, PARALEGAL
AARON D. PULANCO, ASSISTANT
DARRELL J. JOHNSTON, ASSISTANT
M. ESTHER SHERMAN, ASSISTANT
STEELE COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
ROBERT J. JARRETT
County Attorney
October 28, 2024
To: Blooming Prairie Police Department (BPPD)
Cc: City of Blooming Prairie City Attorney
Re: BPPD Case #24000110
The Steele County Attorney’s Office (SCAO) reviewed BPPD case number 24000110
upon the request of the Blooming Prairie City Attorney.
On Saturday, October 5, 2024, around 10:30 AM, BPPD was dispatched to the high school
football field for a report of a past-action assault. An investigation took place with the
assistance of the Steele County Sheriff’s Office. Cell phone videos of the incident were
collected.
SCAO has reviewed the case file, statements of involved parties, and videos.
Under Minnesota law, whoever intentionally inflicts bodily harm upon another person is
guilty of an assault. “Intentionally” means that the offender had a purpose to cause the
result specified, or the act performed by the offender, if successful, would cause that result.
Minn. Stat. § 609.224, subd. 1 (2); CRIMJIG 8.17.
Here, a youth tackle football game was being held on the high school field. A Blooming
Prairie coach was standing on the sidelines. A play was ending, and two youths were
coming at him at “full speed.” One youth passed the coach, and the coach put his hand out
and grabbed onto the second youth. When the coach grabbed onto the youth, who was on
the opposing team, he held onto the youth’s facemask. This action caused the youth to fall
to the ground due to the momentum of the youth running and being abruptly stopped. The
youth quickly sat up and went back into the field of play.
The involved youth player stated he was running full speed attempting to push a player out
of bounds when the coach grabbed his facemask. The youth reported the coach stated, “no,
you can’t push him out of bounds.” The youth reported he had neck pain, caused by the
incident.
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The involved coach stated he was standing in one place when he attempted to stop the
second youth from going further out of bounds toward the track where the first youth was.
The coach believed he grabbed the youth’s shoulder pads to slow the youth down and he
accidentally grabbed the helmet and facemask. The coach said he felt terrible but did not
intend for anything malicious to happen. The coach understood why the youth’s parents
would be upset and apologized for the conduct.
The video clip of the incident is alarming; however, the totality of the incident must be
reviewed. The coach did not confront, go towards, or otherwise further engage with the
opposing team’s youth in this incident beyond the grabbing of the mask from where he
stood on the sideline. The coach stated he was attempting to stop the player from going
further out of bounds and stop further action out of bounds. The State would be unable to
refute this claim given the coach’s actions before and after the grabbing. There is no
evidence the coach’s intentions were criminal in nature or he had any malicious intent.
A facemask is a foul in football, which occurs in many football games. The game of
football acknowledges they are safety fouls; however, it is well understood that facemasks
occur and are often accidental given the fast pace of play and quick reactions. This case is
different as it was a coach face-masking a player, however, lends toward being a football-
type act and not an act whose purpose is to cause harm to another.
Based on the above information, there is insufficient evidence that a reasonable jury would
find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an assault took place. Therefore, there will not
be any criminal charges and the matter is closed.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Jarrett
Steele County Attorney
