A high school basketball game took a shocking turn when a referee, Brandon Knapper, allegedly punched Oak Hills head coach Rob Alexander following a heated verbal exchange, leading to Knapper’s arrest on charges of battery causing serious bodily injury and assault.
The incident occurred during a fall league contest between Arlington and Oak Hills at Santiago High School in Corona, California.
The altercation, captured in a video obtained by TMZ Sports, showed Knapper approaching Alexander near Oak Hills’ bench before striking the coach, who fell to the ground amid the chaos.
The confrontation prompted the game’s cancellation, with law enforcement responding to the scene and transporting Alexander to the hospital for medical treatment.
Knapper, a former college basketball player at West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Cal State San Bernardino, turned himself in to authorities and was subsequently booked at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department jail. However, he was released on bail of $25,000.