Inglewood Police Investigate Dispute Between Principal, Coach

Inglewood police are investigating allegations by Vincent Combs, Inglewood High School boys basketball coach, that he was battered by Principal Lawrence Freeman during an argument in Freeman’s office Tuesday.

Combs told police Tuesday that his arm and shoulder were repeatedly slammed into a door by Freeman, causing several bruises.

Police Sgt. Harold Moret said the marks on Combs’ left shoulder and right forearm are consistent with the coach’s report to police that Freeman trapped him in an office doorway. Detectives must interview two vice principals, a secretary, a custodian and five basketball players who witnessed the confrontation before forwarding the case to the Inglewood city attorney’s office, Moret said.

The city attorney will decide in about 30 days whether to prosecute Freeman, Moret said.

The incident promises to create new controversy in Inglewood, where Freeman has been both lauded and criticized during a five-year tenure that has earned him the nickname “Screamin’ Freeman.”

A Booming Voice

Freeman uses a whistle and a booming voice to control students. Supporters say his toughness has helped rid the school of drugs and gangs, but critics say he is a petty tyrant who bullies students and teachers.

After the confrontation between Freeman and Combs on Tuesday, Inglewood Unified School District Supt. George McKenna ordered Freeman to leave the campus. It was the second time Freeman had been sent home this school year.

In September, McKenna suspended Freeman for a week after Freeman argued with another district employee.

McKenna and Freeman were supposed to discuss the latest incident Wednesday morning, but Freeman called in sick, and did not show up for the meeting. Freeman said in a telephone interview that he may remain on sick leave until the end of the school year, June 23.

“I just decided, ‘Hey, I’m not going through this any more,’ ” Freeman said. “When you can’t move a teacher off campus, but you can move a principal . . . then I’ve really got to consider if I love education enough and children enough to put up with this.”

Freeman, 67, said he is not considering retirement. He said he needs time off to decide what to do next. He said he is angry because McKenna ordered him to go home without asking him to tell his side of the story.

Aggressive Style

Freeman allies have said that McKenna disagrees with the principal’s aggressive style and wants to move him out of the high school.

McKenna has denied this. He did not return several telephone calls this week seeking comment.

The confrontation occurred at a meeting Tuesday in Freeman’s office to plan a school assembly honoring members of several Inglewood High School athletic teams.

Freeman said he reprimanded Combs for failing to buy trophies for the basketball team and told the coach that he might not be rehired next season. The principal said he ordered Combs out of the office but that when he refused to leave, the two men began pushing on either side of the office door.

Freeman denied that he shut the door on Combs’ arm or shoulder. “His arm was never caught in any door because we never got the door closed,” Freeman said.

Combs, 48, said he intended to buy trophies for each member of the team but told a vice principal that there was not enough money to buy special trophies, such as those for the most valuable player and most inspirational player.

Freeman refused to listen to his explanation and began screaming, Combs said. “I said, ‘I’m a teacher and an adult, you don’t have to yell at me,’ ” he said.

Treated at a Clinic

Combs said Freeman continued screaming and then “banged” the door into him six or seven times.

“I didn’t raise my voice,” Combs said. “I never made a threatening motion. . . . I stood there and took this abuse and was dehumanized in front of other teachers and my players.”

Combs was treated at a Westchester medical clinic and then filed reports with school district police and the city Police Department, Moret said.

Some parents and at least one school board member, Zyra McCloud, said Freeman should not have been sent home from school this week. Sandra Mack, who has a son in the ninth grade at the high school, said parents will consider picketing the school if Freeman is not assured that he can do his job as he sees fit.