Officer hits coach on head with chair

Officer allegedly hit coach with chair
DAVID L. TEIBEL and IRENE HSIAO, Tucson Citizen

A Tucson police officer is on paid leave, accused of hitting a youth football coach on the head with a lawn chair, authorities said.

Officer Emmitt Williams, 39, was off duty when he was arrested by sheriff's deputies after an incident Thursday on the Northwest Side.

Williams was booked that night into the Pima County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault.

He is on administrative leave while an internal review of the case is done, a Tucson police spokeswoman said.

Williams, a Tucson officer for nearly 16 years, was ordered released without bail yesterday morning at an initial court appearance.

Williams was at a youth football practice at Arthur Pack Regional Park when he argued with a coach, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.

Barkman said deputies were called after the coach was hit on the head with a lawn chair about 9 p.m. She did not know what the men argued about.

Rob Hamdlen, the coach of the Broncos, said in a telephone interview last night that Williams hit him a couple of times with a folding lawn chair after practice ended. Hamdlen wouldn't elaborate on the argument.

"I've been doing this for 10 years, and I've never seen anything this drastic," said Hamdlen, who was not arrested. "I think overall he is a pretty good person. Maybe he had rough day at work, but something snapped."

Williams is president of the Marana Broncos, in the midget division of the Tucson Youth Football and Spirit Federation. His two sons play for the team, said Jerry Dini, president of the league.

When reached by telephone last night, Williams declined to comment.

Barkman would not release the coach's name, but she said he sustained "a knot on the head" and did not require hospital treatment.

Kathy Wendling, a Tucson police spokeswoman, noted in a news release that Williams was off duty. He is assigned to uniformed patrol duty on the West Side.