School Fight Leads To Charge Against Man Struck By Coach’s Car: Police

COLUMBIA, CT – A pedestrian who was struck by a coach’s vehicle during a weekend dispute over a girls’ youth basketball game is accused of breach of peace for his role in the incident, state police said.

Jason Surprenant, 40, of Columbia, turned himself in at state police barracks in Colchester on Thursday. Police had a warrant for his arrest and charged him with second-degree breach of peace.

The charge stems from an incident Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Horace Porter School in Columbia after a basketball game.

Police previously charged a basketball coach, Bryan Baez-Rivera, 29, of Willimantic, on multiple counts for striking Surprenant, including risk of injury to a minor, second-degree breach of peace, second-degree assault, and second-degree reckless endangerment.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Surprenant complaining of pain in his head and left side. He told police he got into a verbal argument and yelled at the opposing team’s coach because of a penalty on the court, an affidavit shows.

Surprenant, who told police the coach struck him with his vehicle intentionally, was taken to Hartford Hospital for treatment.

School surveillance video shows Surprenant standing in a lane on the school’s property at the time of the collision, which caused him to go up onto the vehicle’s hood and fall to the ground.

Baez-Rivera told police Surprenant got into a verbal altercation with him, then began chasing him on foot. Baez-Rivera reported the man walked in front of his path of travel. Baez-Rivera told police he was unable to avoid a collision. Baez-Rivera told investigators multiple people began to chase his vehicle, and he left the property out of concern for his safety and for the safety of his passengers, which included minor children.

Police said they reviewed surveillance footage and concluded Baez-Rivera “appeared to make no attempt to avoid striking the victim.”

In the arrest warrant affidavit for Surprenant, police indicate Surprenant appears to be “yelling and agitated,” and stood in the roadway to prevent Baez-Rivera from exiting the property.

“According to the video footage, Jason was the primary aggressor in the moments leading up to this incident,” the warrant states. “Jason chased after Bryan's vehicle in the parking lot in an aggressive manner, which caused Bryan to accelerate away from him. Jason then proceeded to stand in the middle of the exit road preventing Bryan from leaving. Therefore, Jason intentionally caused inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to Bryan.”

Surprenant posted $5,000 bond and is due to appear in Superior Court in Rockville on Jan. 30.