Assault Archives

2008

SOCCER — Two soccer referees filed simple assault charges against a father of two players after he rushed onto the field during a game and bumped the referees while cursing at them during a tournament in Jackson, Miss.

Deryll Durr and his daughter, Ashley Durr, filed affidavits for the assault charges in Jackson Municipal Court against Jim Gulley of Clinton, Miss. The incident took place as Clinton played Ocean Springs at Newell Field in the Northwest Rankin High Invitational tournament on Dec. 6, 2008.

Deryll Durr said that Gulley, whose sons James and Kellen are Arrow soccer players, “lowered his shoulder and hit me like a linebacker in the back,” he said. “He hit me from behind. It was a surprise. Me and (Clinton High Arrow coach Jeff) Long were there talking at the time. He hit me from behind, and when I turned around, he was there.”

2005

BASKETBALL – It took almost three years, but Mississippi high school basketball official Bill Brantley finally received $100,000 to settle a lawsuit he’d filed after he was assaulted. The incident occurred Jan. 25, 2002, at Bowling Green School. According to Brantley and police accounts, the confrontation began when Brantley’s partner, Charlie Ackerman, called a flagrant foul on Bowling Green player Kody Glenn. As Ackerman went to the scorer’s table to report the foul, he was accosted by Glenn’s father, Frank. Shortly thereafter, two other spectators, Caleb Adli McGehee and Sacha Riff McGehee, left the stands and participated in the attack. The McGehee’s father also joined the fracas. Brantley, who had gone to the scorer’s table as Ackerman was reporting the foul because the clock hadn’t stopped, was soon subjected to physical and verbal abuse as well.

Brantley was knocked to the floor and rendered unconscious after being kicked in the head. He later needed staples to close a head wound. Ackerman escaped with facial cuts and bruises.