HALL COUNTY — A Flowery Branch High School baseball coach has been placed on leave after he appeared on video pushing a 14-year-old student against a wall.
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The teen’s father, David Tabrizipour, posted the video on Facebook, touching off hundreds of comments and garnering 164,000 views in two days. The video is from a surveillance camera in the school’s practice facility, where the incident happened Tuesday.
“It’s just very disturbing to see a grown man put his hands on a 14-year-old child,” Tabrizipour told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims.
The video shows the coach grabbing his son by the shirt, spinning him around and shoving him against a wall. He briefly holds the teen there before patting his chest and letting the student walk away.
“As a parent, no adult should ever put their hands on any child,” Tabrizipour said. “I don’t care what was said or what was done before that from my child.”
He said the coach lost his temper after his son asked if another boy could play in that night’s baseball game.
“I’d like to see him not really coach children anymore, if he’s that aggressive with just my son asking a simple question,” he said.
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Channel 2 Action News is not reporting the name of the coach because he has not been charged with a crime. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said the school resource officer investigated the incident, but a magistrate court judge declined to issue an arrest warrant.
Hall County Schools issued a written response, saying incidents such like this are concerning, and the district takes them seriously.
“We referred the matter to law enforcement, and the coach was placed on leave as soon as the incident was brought to our attention; he will remain on leave while we conduct a thorough investigation,” they said.
Tabrizipour said he’s received messages from some parents who defend the coach and think he’s overreacting. But many comments on Facebook express outrage at the coach’s behavior, calling it “shameful” and “ridiculous.”
He’s pleased that the district placed the coach on leave and wants to have a good relationship with school leaders. Above all, he wants to feel comfortable with his son playing baseball.
“I feel bad because he should feel safe around his coaches,” he said. “And he might not now, and that’s tough because he loves the game.”
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