A Florida highschool soccer coach is accused of hitting three college students in a heated brawl throughout observe, weeks after he allegedly fought one other scholar at a distinct college.
Blanche Ely Excessive Faculty assistant soccer coach Jamir Clarke was arrested Monday after getting right into a bodily altercation with the scholars throughout observe, in line with a Broward Sheriff’s Workplace police report obtained by Native 10.
Clarke, 29, had allegedly confronted one in all his scholar gamers for posting one thing damaging on-line about somebody he knew.
When the participant admitted to creating the submit, the 6-foot-7, 400-pound coach allegedly known as the coed a “bitch” after which hit them.
Nevertheless, after placing the participant, his teammates retaliated and went after Clarke as the primary sufferer fled to security.
“He simply acquired surrounded by everyone and he simply began throwing punches at everyone,” an nameless scholar advised 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 known 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 because of the brawl, Native 10 reported.
The Broward County Public Faculties despatched a letter out to folks that Clarke is now not a coach for the varsity, which was “his solely place on our campus.”
“We’re deeply disturbed by this incident, as the protection 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 Foremost Jail on $30,000 bond and later launched beneath home arrest with a GPS monitor.
Whereas Clarke advised officers that he was appearing 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 abilities to de-escalate the scenario made him a “danger” to his gamers, Native 10 reported.
Prosecutors additionally identified that Clarke had beforehand been accused of attacking a scholar 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 scholar 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 protection and well-being of our college students is our primary precedence.”
Nevertheless, since being dropped at mild, the video has sparked outrage amongst mother and father and college students at each Monarch and Blanche Ely Excessive Faculties.
“The video I noticed is him being the aggressor and it was horrible,” dad or mum Shaka Williams advised Native 10.
“I really feel like as an grownup, it is best to have a bigger margin for persistence for these children as a result of they’ll get mouthy, they’ll speak and say wild jokes, however I feel placing your fingers 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 mentioned he’s not stunned 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.
