Football coach surrenders on assault charge
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BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama (WALA) — Theodore High School football coach and athletic director Wayne Eric Collier Sr. on Wednesday turned himself in on a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from an incident almost two weeks ago.
The Mobile County Public School System indicated Wednesday that it has placed Collier on administrative leave.
Three people who earlier got into a confrontation with one of Collier’s relatives on Dauphin Island that same day on May 8 accuse the football coach and three others of assaulting them when they returned by boat.
One of the accusers, Hunter Hinton, is a defendant in the Dauphin Island case. He has turned himself in on the misdemeanor assault charge in that case, according to his lawyer, Jeff Deen.
As for Collier, his lawyer reiterated to FOX10 News that the coach has done nothing wrong.
“I don’t want to litigate the facts right now, but I can assure you that he is gonna be exonerated from any criminal responsibility for whatever went on down there,” attorney Dennis Knizley said.
Collier’s brother, Shawn Jerome Collier, turned himself in Tuesday. It’s unclear what the status is for the other two defendants – Eric Collier’s son, Wayne Eric Collier Jr. and Hayden Aaron Collier. The Bayou La Batre Police Department did not immediately return a call seeking information about the matter.
Deen, meanwhile, contended that the bad blood started because a “drunk, belligerent” relative of the Colliers who was on Dauphin Island got upset about something that happened involving Hinton on the island’s West End.
That man “was picking fights with people,” Deen said. “He didn’t like what happened to him. So he whined and complained on his way back to Bayou La Batre on is cell phone.”
That person is the one who accused Hinton of assault. He has a trial date in July. Deen said he does not know the specific injuries that his client stands accused of causing. But he added, “It’s much more extensive what happened in Bayou La Batre than anything that happened in Dauphin Island.”
All of the charges are misdemeanors, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
Updated at 12:47 p.m. to include that Collier has been placed on administrative leave.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Eric Collier Sr. was on Dauphin Island.
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