Alaska-Anchorage captain Lee Green has been suspended indefinitely by the team after being arrested on a second-degree assault charge Sunday for allegedy punching teammate Brett Arcand-Kootenay in the team’s locker room.
Arcand-Kootenay had surgery Monday to repair a broken jaw after the incident, which, according to police reports cited by the Anchorage Daily News was tied to an argument about a training run.
Green, 22, a senior defenseman who is in his second season as the Seawolves’ captain, made an initial court appearance on Monday, the newspaper reported, but remained jailed pending another appearance Tuesday and a bail hearing on Wednesday.
According to a police report, Arcand-Kootenay, a 21-year-old sophomore, and Green were involved in a dispute at 9 a.m. Sunday. The report, as quoted by the Daily News said:
“According to Arcand-Kootenay, Green demanded to know where Arcand-Kootenay had been that morning when he was supposed to have shown for an early morning team run. Arcand-Kootenay said that before he could respond, Green ‘sucker punched’ him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Once on the ground, Green again struck Arcand-Kootenay in the back.'”
Arcand-Kootenay told police he arrived for the training but left when Green wasn’t there, the newspaper reported.
When police called Green, he said he hit Arcand-Kootenay because he wanted to “make a point,” according to the charges. Green said he was “sick of” his teammate because he was “causing problems” for the team, the charges read.
UAA athletic director Steve Cobb announced Green’s suspension Monday. The school is investigating the incident and will make a decision on Green’s future “at an appropriate time in the near future,” a statement released by the school read.
“We are disturbed that such a regrettable incident has occurred between two of our student-athletes,” Cobb said. “I have been in communication with the families of both players, and everyone involved is concerned with the interests of both young men.”
