A TCU fan allegedly punched another fan after a dispute at the school's spring game on Saturday. And the incident had nothing to do with what happened on the football field.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 42-year-old Shea O'Neill is charged with injury of the elderly, a first-degree felony, after he allegedly punched a 78-year-old man and chipped seven of his teeth.
O'Neill has posted a $100,000 bail.
The incident allegedly occurred after O'Neill's kids were climbiing on the railing in front of the handicapped section where the unidentified 78-year-old and his wife were sitting. After the wife said she asked the kids to stop playing on the railing – fearing for their safety – the man asked the kids to stop.
They didn't, and O'Neill got involved, saying no one else disciplined his kids. It escalated from there after the man said he told O'Neill he was not doing a very good job of controlling his kids.
The husband said that he sat down and that he and O’Neill had a heated exchange. He said he had just looked over his right shoulder toward O’Neill when he suddenly saw a red flash and was knocked out of his seat.
“He hit me square in the face,” the husband said. “I saw a flash. Then my whole front face from my eyes on down to my chin went numb,” the husband said. “… I couldn’t get up because I had cobwebs in my head. He smacked me really good.”
He said he had no warning and was unable to defend himself against the punch, which bloodied his nose and left bruises on his face.
“I did not see it coming. If I had … I would have tried to deflect it or duck,” the husband said. “Once I got up and stabilized myself, then I started after the guy. [Another] guy restrained me and said, ‘Let the police do it.’ It it hadn’t been for him, I would have been on it.”
The man said he suffered from arthritis.
Per the police report in the case, O'Neill told a security member at the game that the man had cussed at him. When she asked O'Neill why he hit the man, he tried to scramble and she grabbed his shirt.
Eight starters were sidelined for TCU's spring game because of injuries according to PurpleMenace.com. Two of those starters were quarterback Trevone Boykin and wide receiver Josh Doctson. Boykin recently had surgery on his left wrist while Doctson suffered a broken hand.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
