A Florida highschool soccer coach is accused of hitting three college students in a heated brawl throughout apply, weeks after he allegedly fought one other pupil at a unique college.
Blanche Ely Excessive Faculty assistant soccer coach Jamir Clarke was arrested Monday after getting right into a bodily altercation with the scholars throughout apply, in keeping with a Broward Sheriff’s Workplace police report obtained by Native 10.
Clarke, 29, had allegedly confronted one in every of his pupil gamers for posting one thing destructive on-line about somebody he knew.
When the participant admitted to creating the put up, the 6-foot-7, 400-pound coach allegedly referred to as the scholar a “bitch” after which hit them.
Nevertheless, after hanging the participant, his teammates retaliated and went after Clarke as the primary sufferer fled to security.
“He simply obtained surrounded by all people and he simply began throwing punches at all people,” an nameless pupil instructed the outlet.
Throughout that point, one of many student-athletes who tried to interrupt up the brawl was struck by Clarke.
Broward Sheriff’s deputies have been referred to as to the varsity shortly after and tried to enter the weightlifting room the place the melee had occurred, however the door was locked.
After getting access to the room, police discovered Clarke “sitting on the ground along with his legs crossed and the lights off,” and he was taken into custody. Deputies famous {that a} mirror within the weight room was cracked on account of the brawl, Native 10 reported.
The Broward County Public Faculties despatched a letter out to folks that Clarke is not a coach for the varsity, which was “his solely place on our campus.”
“We’re deeply disturbed by this incident, as the security and well-being of our college students is our primary precedence,” the district wrote.
Clarke has been charged with 4 counts of kid abuse with out nice bodily hurt.
He was booked into the Broward County Fundamental Jail on $30,000 bond and later launched beneath home arrest with a GPS monitor.
Whereas Clarke instructed officers that he was performing in self-defense, throughout his preliminary courtroom look on Wednesday, prosecutor Eric Linder argued that his dimension and failure to make the most of his teaching expertise to de-escalate the state of affairs made him a “threat” to his gamers, Native 10 reported.
Prosecutors additionally identified that Clarke had beforehand been accused of attacking a pupil throughout a separate incident at Monarch Excessive Faculty in Coconut Creek earlier this month, the place he labored as a campus monitor.
Investigators discovered disturbing footage, obtained by Native 10, that exhibits the large soccer coach swinging and punching a pupil inside the toilet of the varsity.
Broward County Public Faculties acknowledged that they weren’t made conscious of the video till after his arrest.
“Clarke, who has been employed with BCPS since December 2024, is being reassigned whereas these incidents are reviewed for additional motion, as much as and together with termination,” the district wrote.
“Always, the security and well-being of our college students is our primary precedence.”
Nevertheless, since being dropped at mild, the video has sparked outrage amongst dad and mom and college students at each Monarch and Blanche Ely Excessive Faculties.
“The video I noticed is him being the aggressor and it was horrible,” mum or dad Shaka Williams instructed Native 10.
“I really feel like as an grownup, it is best to have a bigger margin for endurance for these youngsters as a result of they will get mouthy, they will speak and say wild jokes, however I believe placing your palms on a child is rarely OK.”
Williams blasted Clarke for his lack of “self-control” and was shocked that there had been two violent incidents involving the coach and college students at two separate faculties in beneath a month.
Pupil Isaiah Robinson stated he’s not shocked that Clarke is accused of hitting college students since he has “a historical past of it.”
If convicted, Clarke faces as much as 5 years in jail on every of the 4 counts.
