Georgia youth football coach charged after incident at practice

GEORGIA — A volunteer youth football coach has been arrested following an incident at practice that left a 12-year-old boy briefly hospitalized.

Police said the incident happened Monday night at Old National Park, when officers were called about an unresponsive child around 7:43 p.m. The boy was airlifted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital, where he was treated and released the same night with no major injuries.

The coach, identified as Jonathan Richard Sagers, admitted to a verbal and physical altercation with the child, including shoving him to the ground, according to South Fulton Public Safety interim managing director Cedric Alexander. Sagers now faces a felony charge of first-degree cruelty to children and a misdemeanor battery charge.

Investigators later discovered Sagers had multiple active warrants from Atlanta police related to an Aug. 29 incident. Those charges include possession of drugs, obstruction of officers, and driving on a suspended license. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail on those charges before being formally charged in the child cruelty case.

Alexander noted that Sagers was not a city employee but a volunteer coach with the Old National Youth Athletic Association, which operates under an agreement with the city. He said Sagers had passed a background check in July before joining the league.

“Youth athletics are important,” Alexander said during a Thursday news conference. “We want to encourage parents to allow their children to participate, but we also encourage you to know the coaches, know the teams, know the volunteers, know those people who are in and around your children.”