Cedarville coach arrested after incident at Elkins
Elkins police arrested Cedarville Coach Kevin Lea on Wednesday morning following two fights, racial slurs and an attack on an Elkins police officer at Friday night’s 1-3A Conference game in Elkins, according to a police incident report released Wednesday.
“It’s a pretty big issue,” Elkins Police Chief Bill Rhodes said.
Lea, 36, was arrested in connection with inciting a riot, failure to disperse, second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, harassment and obstruction of government operations. All are misdemeanor offenses. Lea was booked into the Washington County jail at 11:36 a.m. and released Wednesday afternoon on $8,800 in bonds.
Calls to Cedarville Superintendent Dan Foreman, the school’s acting athletic director, and Lea were not returned Wednesday. Elkins Athletic Director Aaron Clark said Wednesday that he had no comment.
Referees broke up a fight between Cedarville and Elkins players during the final minutes of the game, according to a preliminary police report. Referees spoke to Lea, who police said was screaming and cursing at the referees. Referees then signaled the end of the game, police said. Elkins was declared the winner with the score 16-6.
Lea and Cedarville players were upset, police said. Lea cursed at and called Elkins Coach Thurman Shaw a racial slur, according to the police report. Shaw, who is black, and his players left the field after being asked to go, according to the report.
Lea walked back onto the field with his players while still yelling. School resource officer James Todd asked Lea to leave and take his players with him, according to the report.
“I’m not going,” Lea was quoted in the report. He cursed the policeman and then swung his arms to keep the officer away, according to the report.
Todd was then “surrounded by Cedarville football players,” according to the report which also stated players shoved and taunted the officer.
Police said they have video of the incident.
Elkins fans saw what was happening on the field and left the stands to help the police, according to Sgt. Troy Reed in the report.
Todd was struck in his lower back, but he continued to tell Lea and his players to leave the field. Reed had a “busted upper lip” from either a helmet or shoulder pad, according to the report. The injuries to the police officers were the only injuries reported, Rhodes said.
Lea’s players eventually pulled him away, according to the report.
At some point, police called other agencies for help. Elkins police decided not to arrest Lea on Friday because the arrest could have sparked a “more serious altercation,” according to the report. Rhodes said the crowds were separated by the time officers arrived from the Washington County sheriff’s office, West Fork, Springdale and Arkansas State Police.
Cedarville (1-6, 1-3) is scheduled to host Marshall (1-6, 0-4) on Friday night