Arlee man found guilty of assaulting coach

LIBBY - An Arlee man was found guilty Friday of assault on a sports official.

A six-member Libby Justice Court jury found Francis Lavern Pierre guilty of hitting his son's basketball coach Brandon Hobbs after a game in the District 8-B boys basketball tournament in Libby on Feb. 16.

Pierre was found innocent on a disorderly conduct charge.

Pierre admitted hitting Hobbs, but alleged that the punch was instigated by a verbal attack by the coach against his son during Arlee's 63-60 loss to Superior.

Pierre said the coach used "foul, cursing and naughty language" toward his son.

Hobbs testified Friday in court that Pierre's son, Richard, was not a regular on the varsity team and played on the junior varsity team. However, Hobbs brought Richard to the tournament because he had been playing well on the JV team. Richard did not play during the tournament and had been "saying some negative things, giving me dirty looks and saying things to players on the floor and I said 'unless you want to say something positive, go to the locker room,'" Hobbs said.

Hobbs testified that he went to the locker room area after the game and was speaking to one of the Superior basketball team players. When he got to the locker room door, Pierre "scooted in front" of him, Hobbs said. Hobbs put his head down to try to move around Pierre, and then he was "sucker-punched," he said. The impact pushed Hobbs into a doorframe or the wall, which caused a 3-inch laceration requiring two staples, Hobbs said. He said that up to that point no words had been exchanged.

"I never said anything," Hobbs continued. "I never instigated anything in my life and that's the last thing I would do."

Hobbs then left the locker room area and went to the scorekeeper's table to get help.

Pierre said he was upset about the way his son was treated during the game. After the game, Pierre, who attends most practices and games, went to his son who "was visibly upset" and asked Richard what happened. Pierre testified that outside of the locker room Hobbs shoved him and said "excuse me," and Pierre reacted by punching him. Pierre said that he struck Hobbs because of the disrespect shown toward his son.

"I'm a single parent and I will protect and probably overprotect him," Pierre said. "After I hit [Hobbs] I felt so bad that I followed him out to the court."

Libby High School Principal Rik Rewerts was on the court when the two men came onto the floor. Rewerts stood between the two men and no physical contact was made between them on the court, Rewerts testified.

Libby police officers responded to the scene and Pierre was arrested.

Charles Evans, the attorney for the city of Libby, asked Pierre on Friday in court if he thought he overreacted.

"I saw my son being verbally abused," Pierre said. "I don't believe it's right for a coach to do that."

Evans commended Pierre for the interest he conveyed in his son's sporting events, but added "he's gone too far."

Pierre's sentencing is set for Sept. 26.