Buffalo Bills’ offensive line coach Aaron Kromer was arrested in Florida early Sunday after allegedly pushing a boy for using his beach chairs, cops say.
Kromer, 48, was cuffed at his Inlet Beach home at 1:30 a.m. and booked on misdemeanor battery charges, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said. He was released an hour and a half later.
The altercation came sometime on Saturday, when Kromer and his son spotted three teenagers fishing on the beach near his waterfront home, the alleged victim told police. They had been using lawn chairs presumably owned by the coach.
Kromer’s son confronted the teens before Kromer himself grabbed their fishing pole and cast it into the water, according to the sheriff’s department. The irate trainer then allegedly pushed one of the boys to the ground and socked him in the face.
Kromer told the boys to return the lawn chairs to where they got them, then issued a warning: If the boy reported him to police “he would kill his family,” police said.
The coach has a 21-year-old son, Zak, who has posted several pictures of his family at Walton County’s Rosemary Beach on social media. Many of the photos feature high-backed wooden beach chairs arranged in a circle, sometimes next to a fire pit and coolers in the sand.
Deputies learned of the alleged fracas after responding to a call to an Inlet Beach residence Saturday night. Kromer was booked into the Walton County Jail but released on bond.
At least one of the boys is related to a neighboring resident, Walton County sheriff’s spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia told The Daily Beast. She declined to provide further information on the alleged victim and his pals.
“Our No. 1 priority is protecting the victim,” she said.
The Buffalo Bills released a statement saying the team is “aware of the report and in the process of gathering the facts.”
In the state of Florida, charging someone with misdemeanor and felony battery is at the deputy’s discretion—meaning the charges are subject to change, Dobridnia said.