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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman has officially been cleared in an alleged incident during a wrestling tournament at Mishawaka High School on Jan. 3.
The St. Joseph County prosecutor's office released their decision not to charge Freeman after he was accused of battery by an assistant wrestling coach at New Prairie. They say a big part of their decision was video released by Mishawaka police.
The prosecutor's office says video evidence doesn't support claims that Freeman pushed or shoved Chris Fleeger, the New Prairie assistant wrestling coach.
There was plenty to unpack from the information provided to ABC57 by the county prosector's office...But at the end of the day, one thing was determined: no evidence of a crime by Notre Dame's head football coach.
This all stems from an alleged altercation at the Al Smith high school wrestling invitational at Mishawaka High School on Jan. 3.
This is the new information released by the County prosecutor's office.
Freeman's son Vinny, who wrestles for Penn high school, was competing in the invitational, and allegedly, as Marcus Freeman and his family attempted to leave the gym, Fleeger claims Marcus gave him a quote "two handed push" and says he had quote "no clue" why, so he filed a police report.
After news broke of the incident, the university released a statement saying, "Vinny Freeman, head coach Marcus Freeman's son, was verbally accosted during and after his wrestling match by a local wrestling coach. Marcus and Joanna freeman intervened and removed Vinny from the situation. At no point did coach Freeman physically engage with anyone. We believe that the police report, which includes video evidence, fully exonerates coach freeman and makes clear these accusations are totally unfounded."
The prosecutor's office says the video does not support witness accounts claiming Freeman shoved or struck Fleeger.
"Everyone reviewed the footage, and video evidence is king," said Marc Kawkabani, Notre Dame student.
The prosecutor's office release says Fleeger told detectives he tried to recruit Vinny Freeman in the past to wrestle at another high school, which did not happen.
It also says one witness claims Fleeger was encouraging other wrestlers to hurt Vinny.
The witness then told Freeman and his family of those threats, all of which Fleeger has denied.
"Coach Freeman's a very high class, high character person, I think that's evident in the way that he carries himself on the field, the way that he leads the team and the way that his players and the people in the organization speak about him, so that doesn't necessarily surprise me, I'm glad it was just a misunderstanding," said Nate McGlone, Notre Dame student
Officials say Fleeger told detectives he believed Freeman was quote "rich" and that he was planning on hiring an attorney. The county prosector's office says the video evidence would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred.