Charges to Be Filed Against Coach : Brown’s Cingiser to Face Court Action for Fight With Fan

Three misdemeanor charges will be filed today against Mike Cingiser, Brown University basketball coach, stemming from a fight with a fan in Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym Dec. 30, Deputy Dist. Atty. David S. Kirkpatrick said Thursday.

Kirkpatrick said charges of assault, battery and disturbing the peace will be filed in North Orange County Municipal Court based on a Fullerton Police Department investigation.

The maximum penalty, if he were convicted of all charges, would be a six-month jail term and/or a $1,000 fine. But such a penalty would be rare for a first-time offender, Kirkpatrick said.

Cingiser will be notified by mail of an arraignment date. Contacted at his Providence, R.I., home Thursday night, he said he had not been notified of charges being filed against him.

“I know nothing,” he said.

Kirkpatrick said the assault charge is based on the coach’s actions posing a threat of violence. The battery charge is based on witness accounts that he struck a fan, and disturbing the peace is based on the fact that it appeared that Brown challenged the fan, Bill Harvey, to a fight.

Harvey, 34, a Santa Ana school teacher who has been a vocal regular at Cal State Fullerton basketball games for 13 years, has not attended a game in Titan Gym since the incident. He said Thursday that he will now return to watch Fullerton home games.

“I’m delighted with the decision,” Harvey said.

Harvey, whose courtside antics have more than once caused him to be ejected from a game, had filed a complaint after the fight with Cal State Fullerton University police.

“This may not be the most serious incident,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s our understanding that no one was hurt. But I felt that it was a breach of the law, and we don’t want people to act that way in public.”

Kirkpatrick said the Fullerton police report was brought to him last week, but he needed time to review all the information before deciding to file charges.

“There is some confusion about what happened; some witnesses said the fan was struck and others said the coach seemed to be in a position to strike,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we based the battery on information that the fan had indeed been hit.”

The incident occurred with 4:45 left in the first half in a game Fullerton won, 106-60. Cingiser, upset by Harvey’s actions during the game, walked around the court to Harvey on the far side. A moment later, the two were in a tussle that Brown players and other fans joined.

Harvey and two other fans--Harvey’s brother, Roger Harvey, and Michael Bader--were taken out of the gym by university police, but no arrests were made.

The district attorney’s office has decided that no charges would be filed against the three.

Cingiser received a technical foul after the incident because he left a designated coach’s box near his bench.

After the game, Cingiser told reporters: “I went over to try to get him off (to stop taunting) the kids. I don’t know whether he pushed me or I pushed him . . . I’m not sure.”

Cingiser, a standout player for Brown from 1959-62, was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1962 but instead chose to teach and coach. This is his seventh season as Brown coach.