By Jeff Lipton
Robert Mammone, 17, of Woodside Drive in Hewlett Bay Park, turned himself in to detectives at the First Squad on Friday, Nov. 24, and was charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor, police said. He was issued a ticket to appear in court and was released, authorities said.
Mr. Mammone, a senior fullback at Hewlett, won All-Conference honors for his play during the season in Nassau County's Conference II.
The incident occurred on Oct. 21. According to the police report, Mr. Mammone assaulted a Mepham player, who has been identified as Brendan Wright, "by twisting and breaking his elbow." Mr. Wright, a senior linebacker and wide receiver, was taken from the field by ambulance and received medical assistance for a dislocated elbow, Mepham school officials said.
Police reviewed a videotape of the game and based the assault charge on that, a police spokesperson said. "It's a definite blatant assault," said the police spokesperson. "It was not just that he got carried away during the play. It looked like he meant to hurt the kid. The way he bent his arm back it was obvious he was trying to hurt the guy."
He added that Mr. Mammone's action took place after the play was over.
On-field officials ejected the Hewlett fullback from the game for unsportsmanlike behavior and misconduct, authorities said. In addition, in accordance with a state public-school sportsmanship policy, he was automatically suspended for the next scheduled football game and was then suspended by the Hewlett administration for the remaining regular-season game and playoffs.
The Sportsmanship Committee of Section VIII of the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association, in charge of interscholastic athletics in the county, was asked by Joyce Bisso, Hewlett principal, to review the district-imposed penalty, and the committee agreed it was appropriate.
Todd Heimer, executive director of Section VIII, called the arrest "very rare." He said that in his more than 10 years at Section VIII, athletes have been arrested for actions on the field of play two or three times.
"Fortunately, it doesn't happen too often," Mr. Heimer said. "That's why we have officials, to keep control." He added that Section VIII promotes sportsmanship in all school athletics.
"School districts provide enough supervision for these games," Mr. Heimer said. "I know whenever a student-athlete gets ejected from the game, the officials or supervisors from the school's athletic department are required to make a report to this office."
He said the report was forwarded to Section VIII's Sportsmanship Committee, which reviewed the penalty meted out by Hewlett and agreed with the punishment of excluding Mr. Mammone from the remaining games, including the playoffs. Hewlett lost to Wantagh in a Conference II playoff semifinal game at Hofstra Stadium on Nov. 11.
Even though the administration agreed to suspend him from playing, school officials said they still were surprised that an incident on the athletic field has resulted in an arrest.
"Yes, I was surprised, having taken part in sports, although not football, and going to football games over the years," said Richard Braverman, president of the Hewlett-Woodmere school board. "I've seen all kinds of things taking place on the field, and to my knowledge it never resulted in something like this.
"I find it unusual, and I've been active in sports and watching sports for a very long time," he added. "To my recollection the play was not over."
Dr. Charles Fowler, superintendent of the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, said that because the issue is one of discipline, he could not comment on the incident or arrest. But he agreed "that it was very unusual" for a student-athlete to be charged for his actions on the field.
"Whatever the facts are will come out at trial. Until that time, we ought to give Robert the benefit of the doubt because he is innocent until proven guilty," Mr. Braverman said.
John Didden, principal at Mepham High School, declined to comment, saying it was not appropriate during an ongoing police investigation. He did say that Mr. Wright was back at school.
