Huge brawl after Valley Central-Newburgh basketball game triggers mass police response
MONTGOMERY – A brawl following the conclusion of a high school basketball game resulted in a massive police response on Tuesday night.
Host Valley Central beat Newburgh Free Academy, 58-37, in a Section 9 varsity boys game. After the players from both teams shook hands in customary fashion, there was confrontational chatter between fans of both schools and multiple fights ensued around 8:10 p.m.
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Some callers to Orange County 911 reported a firearm was spotted but there was no verification and no shots were fired. One subject was detained and subsequently released pending further investigation. No injuries were reported.
The town of Montgomery Police Department already had school resource officers on scene and additional units were called to assist. Authorities from the New York State Police, Orange County Sheriff’s Office and police from the villages of Montgomery, Walden and Maybrook, towns of Newburgh, Crawford and Wallkill and city of Newburgh assisted. Fire and emergency service units were placed on standby but were not needed.
Valley Central head coach Frank Nutt said none of his players were involved in the brawl and they were quickly ushered to the locker room as the fighting began. The wild melee, which lasted about 90 minutes according to Nutt, spread from the gym into the hallway.
"After the game it got a little crazy. It was pretty nuts," Nutt said. "None of our players were involved. I thought our staff did a great job in getting everybody out safe."
"There was a fight after the game with a bunch of fans and Newburgh players and it escalated," Nutt said.
Nutt said there were at least 50 police cars in the parking lot.
"It was definitely an uneasy feeling," Nutt said. "There were a lot of people (involved). It was a scary situation, for sure."
The town of Montgomery police said this is an active investigation and anyone with information is asked to call 845-457-9211 or email Detective Sergeant Meehan at jmeehan@townofmontgomery.com.
There are sure to be meetings involving school and athletic administrators from both schools, as well as the governing bodies from Section 9 and the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association.
"I will leave that up to the people that make decisions but there's definitely more that we can do, as a community, generally at sporting events," Nutt said.
This incident comes on the heels of a parking lot shooting following a Warwick-Newburgh varsity football game in the fall which did not involve any students. Several OCIAA member schools immediately called to suspend all interaction with Newburgh. Within a week, Newburgh school officials came up with an action plan that tightened up security at all events and athletic contests were moved to earlier starting times.
kmcmillan@th-record.com Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Huge brawl breaks out after Valley Central, Newburgh NY basketball game
