SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A middle school basketball rivalry took a violent turn on Friday, after one losing coach bit off part of another coach’s ear, police said.
Police said the assistant coach of the losing team, Timothy Lee Forbes, 34, of Springfield, assaulted the coach of the winning team after a championship tournament game and bit off part of his ear.
Police received a report of a disturbance at the Holy Name School in Springfield during a sixth-grade boys' basketball game.
Read NBCConnecticut.com's story on biting coach's ear
People at the game pulled Forbes off the coach, police said, and Forbes ran out of the gym before police arrived. The victim, a 34-year-old Springfield man, was rushed to the Baystate Medical Center in an ambulance to have his ear reattached. He has been released.
Forbes has been charged with mayhem, assault and battery and other charges. He will be arraigned on Monday afternoon in Springfield District Court.
Police said neither team is affiliated with the Holy Name School.
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