A physical education teacher whose jaw was cracked by an attacker at a youth basketball game says he thinks he was beaten in retaliation for an incident last fall. Michael Fontenot said in November, he took a 7-year-old boy into the hall because the child was misbehaving during class at Chataignier Elementary.
“I grabbed him by the arm and walked him out of the classroom,” Fontenot said.
He said the child’s father accused him then of being too rough with the child.
But school officials found no wrongdoing by Fontenot, Evangeline Parish District Attorney Brent Coreil said. “It was a dead issue,” Coreil said.
On Monday, Fontenot was attacked during a tournament for an evening youth basketball league. His assistant, Troy Doucet, tried to break up the fight and also was attacked.
Coreil identified the first attacker as Marcus J. Jason, 33, of Chataignier, and the other as his brother, Kevin Gene Jason, 29, of Ville Platte.
Both were held on $200,000 cash bond after being booked with inciting a felony, second-degree battery and terrorizing.
Police and prosecutors said it is uncertain if the Jason brothers went to the gym specifically to confront Fontenot. But Coreil said preliminary information indicates that Marcus Jason brought his son to the gym “to view what happened.”
Mamou Police detective Todd Ortis said Marcus Jason’s only explanation was “he looked at me funny.”
Marcus Jason of Chataignier has an unlisted number; the only Kevin Jason listed in Ville Platte said he was not Kevin Gene Jason when The Associated Press called Saturday.
The basketball league is not a school program but is allowed to use the gym at Lower Mamou Elementary School.
Fontenot and Doucet are volunteer coaches for the team from Sacred Heart Elementary, a Catholic school in Ville Platte. Both men have 10-year-olds on the team, which was set to face a team from Pine Prairie Monday night.
Fontenot said he had just arrived at the gym with his wife and 6-month-old baby when Marcus Jason allegedly blindsided him.
Fontenot said the blow knocked him to the ground, and when Doucet attempted to pull Marcus Jason away, Kevin Jason allegedly attacked Doucet.
Fontenot said he was punched and kicked after he was knocked to the ground.
The game was called off and an ambulance took Fontenot and Doucet to a hospital.
Coreil said District Judge Larry Vidrine ordered Friday that if the men are released before trial, they must stay away from Evangeline Parish School Board property, youth sports events and Fontenot, Doucet and their families.
Fontenot said several people have told them that an off-duty state trooper was in the audience, but Doucet was the only person who tried to help him.
“I basically had to save myself because nobody was there to help me,” Fontenot said.
Coreil said he has not been able to identify the trooper, but the head of the area’s state police troop has asked for any information that would confirm the report.
