Arlee parent banned from all school activities. Makes first court appearance Monday

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

The Arlee parent who punched his son’s basketball coach at the district tournament in Libby last month has been banned from all Arlee school district activities, and will make his initial court appearance on Monday.

Francis Pierre claims he hit coach Brandon Hobbs because Hobbs was verbally abusing his son Richard during a Feb. 16 game, but Hobbs denied using any type of foul language, and said Pierre was upset because of Richard’s lack of playing time.

Last Monday, Feb. 26, the Arlee school board held a special executive session in which members voted unanimously to ban Pierre from all extracurricular activities at the Arlee school district, and superintendent Gordon Friberg said they will try to have activities directors at other districts also enforce the ban.

Friberg said Arlee trustees can’t actually prevent Pierre from being denied admission to events at other districts, but that they will encourage other school officials to uphold the ban in the interests of public safety.

“We’re going to try. We’re going to let the athletic directors at other schools know, that there’s a need to protect everyone,” Friberg said.

Pierre is schedule to be arraigned in Libby city court on Monday, Feb. 12, where he will have a chance to enter a plea. In an interview with the Leader last month, he acknowledged hitting Hobbs in the jaw after the game, but said he was justified because of Hobbs’ behavior toward his son.

Richard Pierre, a junior varsity player, had been called up to join the team for the trip to the district tournament in Libby that weekend. Hobbs said afterwards that Richard had a bad attitude while sitting on the bench during what ended up being the team’s last game of the year, and Hobbs acknowledged criticizing his player, saying he should have been more supportive of the team.

As Hobbs was returning to the locker room after the game, he attempted to walk past Pierre and his son, and that’s when Pierre punched him, both men said. Hobbs fell back and hit his head on a door frame, and had to have two staples put in to close the gash on his head.

Pierre was arrested at the scene and charged with misdemeanor assault on sports official and disorderly conduct.

Hobbs said he’s been in contact with the Libby city attorney, and although he felt Pierre should be facing felony assault charges, he felt better after the school board voted to ban Pierre from any Arlee activities.

Hobbs and Pierre were both present at a closed, executive session last week, where they were asked questions by the school board. Pierre also had the opportunity to ask Hobbs questions, although Hobbs declined to provide specifics of the meeting because it was behind closed doors.

“I was brought in as a witness, and was interviewed by the superintendent and by Francis himself,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs said being in the same room as Pierre was discomforting.

“It was brutal, and it made me really anxious. It wasn’t easy,” he said.

After the closed-door session, the meeting was brought back into public session, and the board voted unanimously to ban Pierre. Hobbs said it’s probably too much trouble to get a restraining order against Pierre, since he would have to prove a pattern of harassment.

“I’m thinking about it, but it’s not an easy thing to obtain if he’s not continually trying to contact me,” Hobbs noted.

He said he’s satisfied with the ban, and that he probably wouldn’t have come back to coach next year if the board hadn’t put one in place.

“Had he not been banned, I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable coaching at Arlee. My feeling is that he should not be around any kids based on what he did to me,” Hobbs said. “This sends a statement that you will not be tolerated if you attack a coach or anyone else for that matter.”