Trooper accused of assaulting coach enters not guilty plea

Staff and Wire Reports

ENID, Okla. - A veteran Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper accused of hitting a high school baseball coach pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery.

John Kevin Bradshaw appeared in court Friday to enter his plea, and he was released on his own recognizance. A bond hearing was scheduled for June 18.

Bradshaw was charged after a confrontation Monday in which Enid High School baseball coach Scott Baugh claimed the trooper grabbed him around the neck and threw him into a hitting net.

Bradshaw acknowledges he was in a heated exchange with Baugh but says he did not assault the coach.

"These are fabricated; this is a fabricated case," Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw's ex-wife says the confrontation occurred after Baugh cut Bradshaw's son from the baseball team, but trouble had been brewing before that. She claims Enid coaches did not take appropriate action after her son was hit by other players last month.

Coach Baugh declined to comment. In a police report, Baugh said it appeared that the trooper "snapped."  Police did not observe any injury around the coach's neck.