Carnegie man arrested after allegedly pushing kids at junior high football practice

CARNEGIE, Okla. (KFOR) — A scary incident in Carnegie took place when police say an alleged drunk man showed up to a junior high football practice.

Police say the man went onto the field and started being aggressive with the kids.

Around 2 p.m. Monday, a man arrived to football practice at Carnegie Junior High School. At first, he was watching from afar but then took it upon himself to go onto the field and help coach, leading to two players being injured.

"Kids were doing tackle practice, evidently, he thought he could help," Tony Melton, Chief of Police, Carnegie PD said. "He shoved one of the young men during the tackle practice, causing him to strike another young man in the upper thigh. Both of the boys fell to the ground. Both received some slight injury."

A normal day of football practice was interrupted.

"The assistant coach told him no, but he made his way onto the field," said Melton.

Officials say Dace Stenger showed up to the field drunk and tried to get involved with football practice.

Police said after he shoved one player into another, he was then kicked off of the football field, but he wasn't done just yet.

"On his way out, he went back into the field house, basically grabbed his son's gear, took it out, left the scene," Melton said.

The coaches called police shortly after that, but Stenger had left before the police arrived.

"When Officer Amos made contact with the individual, he did have the smell of alcohol on or about his person," Melton said. "However, he had already left the scene of the original crime. So, he was not arrested for public intoxication."

Stenger was arrested Monday evening and initially charged with a felony, but after review, the D.A. dismissed those charges, and replaced them with a misdemeanor assault and battery charge.

Carnegie Public Schools Superintendent Randy Turney sent News 4 this statement about the incident:

Yesterday afternoon during Middle School Football practice, an unauthorized person entered the practice field and laid his hands on a student causing him to fall into another student which caused minor injuries. Coaches were present and moved in to remove the unauthorized person from the premises. Administration was contacted as well as local authorities. Reports have been filed with the Carnegie Police Department as well as the Caddo County Sheriff's Office.  The school has been in contact with the families of the two students who were involved and has collected statements from student and staff witnesses for authorities.

Per Carnegie School Policy, when an unauthorized person enters school grounds and disrupts the peaceful conduct of school activities, they are subject to a six-month ban from school grounds and activities. The school will utilize every resource in its power to prioritize the safety of students including the enforcement of this policy and the use of all legal resources.

Today, our school has also taken additional steps to secure our football practice facility by closing off the large openings that have existed on the west and south sides of the field as well as meeting with coaches to enhance protocols for safety by ensuring no students are near exterior gates during practice to prevent the likelihood of someone entering and coming into contact with students during practice times. 

To ensure the safety of our students, in no way will this type of behavior from any person be tolerated.

Carnegie Public Schools Superintendent Randy Turney

Melton says they will keep a close eye on Stenger and school grounds moving forward.

"Our kids safety is paramount, so we take that very seriously and we are going to do what's necessary," Melton said.

Turney says the two kids who were hurt only suffered minor injuries. They have returned to practice and are doing okay.