A 37-year-old Florida man has been arrested after allegedly strangling a teenager following a flag football game in Palm Beach County.
Brandon Mayer was coaching on October 20 when he allegedly placed a player in a 15-second chokehold during postgame handshakes. He faces a felony battery-by-strangulation charge.
Mayer’s 16-year-old daughter was also arrested. She is accused of attacking the same player and has been charged with misdemeanor battery.
Mayer denied putting anyone in a chokehold when questioned by deputies, according to the arrest report obtained by South Florida CBS affiliate CBS12.com. The Daily Mail has requested an arrest report from the department.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mayer and his daughter on Wednesday. Police have not identified the girl because she is a minor.
Sophia Lopez, 15, has identified herself as the alleged victim. She and her father, Ryan, both spoke with CBS12.com about the incident.
Brandon Mayer, 37, was coaching on October 20 when he allegedly placed a player in a 15-second chokehold during postgame handshakes. He has been charged with felony battery by strangulation.
‘She started making fun of me for losing the game,’ Sophia said of the 16-year-old who was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge. ‘The one thing I said to her that set her off was, “You just fell on your face, and it’s a rec game.”‘
The unidentified 16-year-old allegedly grabbed Sophia by the hair and pulled her to the ground. Witnesses said Mayer then intervened and placed Sophia in a chokehold. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue later took Sophia to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
‘It felt like everything was so tight,’ Sophia said. ‘It felt like I was never going to get out until I just saw black.’
‘It felt like somebody was stabbing me in my stomach, and I checked and there were just bruises everywhere,’ Sophia said. ‘My body was so tense and hurting because my body was regaining oxygen. It was very painful.’
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Ryan Lopez said he stepped in and tried to free his daughter, according to a police report obtained by CBS12.com. He said Sophia suffers from non-epileptic seizures and appeared to be losing consciousness while Mayer was holding her.
‘It was a complete choke,’ Ryan Lopez said. ‘He was pulling her forward and trying to pull her back, not by her waist, which would have been the common-sense thing to do.’
‘It was terrifying,’ he added. ‘It was terrifying for me. It was terrifying for the parents who were there.’
Ryan said the confrontation continued even after he intervened.
‘All I did was pull [Mayer] down, and then, while I was trying to get up, [Mayer’s daughter] pulled my chain and kicked me in the face with her cleat,’ Ryan said.
A 2022 flag football game shows athletes competing in Illinois. The sport has become increasingly popular, particularly in Florida, where more than 10,000 girls play competitively.
Witnesses photographed Mayer’s license plate and gave the information to Sheriff’s deputies.
The Lopez family told CBS12.com that Mayer and his daughter have been removed from the league.
Mayer was released from jail Thursday on a $7,500 bond.
While flag football is in its infancy across much of the country, Florida students, and in particular, girls, have been playing the sport in organized leagues for decades. Currently the state has more than 10,000 girls competing at the high school level, according to state records.
The sport is set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.