OCALA, Fla. – Local 6 obtained exclusive video of a brawl at a high school soccer match that ended with one teen getting arrested and fans and players getting pepper-sprayed.
VIDEO:
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The brawl started when Trinity Catholic High School of Ocala beat Suwannee High School 4-2 in the first round of regionals. The video shows one Suwannee player chase after players from Trinity after the game. That's when parents and fans like Micahel Zacco tried to intervene.
"I went onto the field because I didn't want there to be any fighting," he said. "I didn't want there to be any suspensions because our team still has games to play."
Instead, he and players and other adults were pepper-sprayed by a school resource officer assigned to Suwannee High. Zacco, who has two younger brothers who play on Trinity Catholic varsity soccer, said he has serious questions about why Suwannee SRO David Crutchfield -- a sworn sheriff's deputy -- chose to use pepper spray.
The Suwannee County Sheriff's Office said it will not comment until Monday, but the Suwannee High School principal, Ted Roush, said he fully supports Crutchfield's actions and use of the pepper spray to control the crowd.
The other option would be to take control of the crowd physically, but Crutchfield and another deputy were the only security assigned to the game. The brawl included dozens of people.
Roush and Zacco both wonder why the referees didn't intervene long before.
"Throughout the game there were signs that there were going to be fights," said Zacco. "They left the field and they left the premises. The referees were nowhere to be found."
Roush said the school will look at its security options to prevent a similar incident from happening again. Trinity Catholic has not commented on the incident.
Roush said the Florida High School Athletics Association sent letters to both schools to demand they investigate what happened. He said in the meantime, all the players from both teams have their eligibility on suspension.
Trinity Catholic moved on in the tournament and are scheduled to play next Tuesday.
The video is courtesy of Coughlin Productions.