Fan Illegally Enters E.O. Smith Locker Room In Confrontation: Warrant

STORRS, CT — A 57-year-old East Hartford man is accused of entering a high school locker room while attending a freshman football game at E.O. Smith high school and is facing three criminal charges as a result, state police said.

Gregory Burnett last week was arrested on a warrant and charged with third-degree criminal trespass, second-degree breach of peace and second-degree threatening.

The scene unraveled at the E.O. versus Manchester High School freshman game on Nov. 21, state police said. According to a warrant, state police received a call about a man who came from the Manchester side of the field and threatened one E.O. student, then "assaulted" three others after gaining unauthorized access to a locker room, state police said. Three of them are 16 and the fourth is 17, all males, according to a warrant.

According to a warrant, Burnett, while on the visitor's sideline, was passed by a small, jogging group of "uniformed" student-athletes. He then followed the students through a gap in a fence after hanging his backpack on the fence, according to a warrant.

He was seen talking to one of the students while holding the student's hand for an "uncomfortable amount of time," according to a warrant. Another student, thinking he was helping an athletic trainer, took Burnett's backpack off the fence and brought it to a spot outside the trainer's office, according to a warrant.

Burnett then burst his way into the boys' locker room while pushing two students out of his way in an effort to find the backpack, which he did about 30 second later, near when the previous student placed it, according to the warrant.

He was then escorted out of the dressing facilities by a coach, according to a warrant. Students, a coach and the trainer all provided statements to state police and some of the incident — not the locker room segment — was seen on surveillance video, according to a warrant.

One student claimed Burnett said to him, "I'm from Manchester, I'll beat your (expletive)," while putting an arm around the student, according to a warrant.

Burnett is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Jan. 21.