School: Student Improperly Touched Coach Before Scuffle

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- The president of a private high school in Maryland says a student athlete made improper physical contact with a football coach shortly before a scuffle that led to the coach's abrupt retirement.

School surveillance video shows the 17-year-old boy approaching John Ricca in the St. John's Catholic Preparatory School gymnasium and locking the seated coach in a bear hug from behind. After a minute-long struggle, the boy drops off, but returns within seconds. An apparent discussion escalates into swings from both sides until Ricca yanks the boy over a table onto the floor, where they scuffle.

President Thomas Powell said Friday that the boy could have been expelled for touching a teacher impermissibly. Powell also says Ricca should have reported the offense instead of fighting.

The boy has withdrawn from the school, located in Frederick.

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