Fullerton Heckler Files Charges Against Brown Coach : Schoolteacher, Two Others Removed From Gym After Incident During Titans’ Game

Bill Harvey, the longtime Cal State Fullerton rooter who was involved in a scuffle with Brown University Coach Mike Cingiser during a game Wednesday night, has filed a complaint against Cingiser, Cal State Fullerton University police said Thursday.

Harvey is seeking an assault-and-battery charge against Cingiser, though university police and the district attorney’s office must determine whether charges will be filed. University police said the incident is under investigation and that they will not comment further until Monday.

Harvey, 34, a teacher at the McFadden Intermediate School in Santa Ana, holds two degrees from Cal State Fullerton and has been a visible and vocal regular at Titan games for more than 10 years.

He had been taunting Brown players Wednesday night when Cingiser walked from the bench around the end of the court to the opposite side where Harvey was standing and yelling. In a moment, the two were involved in an altercation that cleared the Brown bench and involved numerous fans.

“I turned around, and there was this huge man lunging at me. I was knocked to the ground,” Harvey said.

Cingiser said Thursday: “I think I came over and said, ‘Why don’t you leave the kids alone?’ Someone on the other side of the court said the initial contact happened because he (Harvey) turned, and I was right there. I don’t know exactly what did occur.”

Cingiser said Thursday night that he had not been informed of any disciplinary action Brown may be considering. Athletic Director John Parry, who was at the game Wednesday night, said afterward that he had not decided whether Cingiser would be disciplined but that “what he did was wrong.” Parry was not available Thursday.

After the incident, Harvey and his brother, Roger, 30, were taken from the gym by Cal State Fullerton police and detained, Sgt. Jess A. Lopez said. A third man involved in the scuffle, Michael Bader, 30, of Orange, also was detained.

There were no arrests.

Harvey said he has bruises and a case of whiplash requiring him to wear a neck brace and that his watch was broken.

After calm was restored, Cingiser was assessed a technical foul, a penalty that may be assigned for leaving the coaching box. Fullerton, which led by a large margin when the incident occurred with 4:45 remaining in the first half, won easily, 106-60.

Harvey, who stands on the sidelines leading cheers and taunting opposing players and coaches, has been escorted from Titan games several times in the past. At least one former Fullerton athletic director, Mike Mullally, has attempted to persuade him to tone down his act.

But Harvey calls his past ejections “theatrics” and says security personnel would sometimes allow him to return to the building and watch from the upper level.

Ed Carroll, Fullerton athletic director, said Thursday: “We’re going to deal with the situation further once we get a full report. We’re going to look at our crowd control to see if there are any changes we need to make sure there is no repeat of that type of incident.”