WINFIELD, W.Va. — Former Marshall University star and St. Louis Rams long-snapper Chris Massey is facing four misdemeanor charges after he got into an altercation with his son’s Winfield Middle School assistant football coach, a Putnam County sheriff’s deputy.
Massey, 45, of Winfield, has been charged with obstructing an officer, battery, trespassing, and disorderly conduct after the fight that happened last Thursday in the parking lot of the middle school.
Massey, who is an assistant coach for Winfield High School, attempted to approach Winfield Middle assistant coach Seth Lewis, who is a Putnam County Sheriff’s deputy. Lewis was off duty during the incident.
According to a criminal complaint, Massey became disruptive when his son, a student athlete at WMS, was emotional and crying during practice. Lewis told Massey to leave the premises and refused to speak with Massey because he was “irate.” Lewis told Massey that he would be arrested if he did not leave.
MORE Read criminal complaint here
Lewis then went to his parked cruiser to retrieve handcuffs and OC spray and called for other Putnam County deputies to come to the middle school.
The complaint says that Massey was pacing in the parking lot and continued to argue with Lewis while Lewis asked him again to leave the property. Lewis then approached Massey and told him to place his hands behind and told him he was under arrest.
At this point, Massey went nose to nose with Lewis and said, “I’m not leaving.”
According to the complaint, Lewis then shoved Massey to create space, and Massey smacked the handcuffs onto the ground. Lewis responded by spraying Massey with OC spray.
After being sprayed, Massey lunged towards Lewis’ legs trying to tackle him. He then removed his shirt and presented an aggressive fighting stance. Massey then tried to strike Lewis but was unsuccessful and was handcuffed.
The criminal complaint was filed by Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Corporal A.J. Huff. He stated in the complaint that video footage from Winfield Middle School’s parking lot was reviewed.
Massey posted a $2,500 bond. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for November 17.
MetroNews reached out to Massey’s attorney, Tim DiPiero Tuesday. DiPiero said their preliminary investigation indicates that Massey was not the cause of the incident and was not the aggressor.
Massey, a graduate of East Bank High School, was inducted to the Marshall Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He spent nine seasons with the Rams from 2002-2010. He played his final season with the Chicago Bears in 2011.