Three football players from CREC Public Safety Academy in Enfield are suspected of attacking an assistant football coach after practice last week and police said they might have planned the attack ahead of time.
The coach was attacked on Nov. 16 as he was leaving a potluck dinner for the team at the school after a practice, according to police.
As he was walking to his car, one football player came up from behind and punched him in the head. Then two other teens started kicking and hitting the coach in the head, police said.
The coach called the police. Authorities said he was bruised, bleeding from the right eye and was transported to Johnson Memorial Hospital.
Investigators conducted interviews, looked at surveillance video and identified three suspects.
“Immediately upon hitting the ground, two other individuals ran over and three of them began kicking the individual about his head and face area,” Enfield police chief Carl Sferrazza said.
A 14-year-old from Hartford and two 15 year-olds, one from Hartford and one from Vernon, were arrested and face assault charges, according to police.
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School officials said the three students who were arrested are football players and the superintendent released a statement.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred involving members of our football team. We are cooperating with law enforcement officials and consequences are being given at the team and school level. The safety of all of our school community members is a top priority, and we are taking this act of aggression very seriously. There is no place for this type of behavior at CREC,” Timothy J. Sullivan, superintendent of the Capitol Region Education Council, said in a statement.
