Ex-Ohio State football assistant Zach Smith arrested for allegedly violating protection order

Former Ohio State assistant football coach Zach Smith was arrested Thursday for allegedly violating a protection order, according to online jail records.

Smith was arrested Thursday afternoon by the Delaware County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office and booked into jail shortly after 6 p.m. He had not been released as of early Friday morning, according to online records.

According to a summary of events provided by the sheriff's office, Smith was arrested after police received calls that he had become "confrontational" while trying to pick up his children at Scioto Ridge Elementary School at around 3 p.m. WBNS-TV in Columbus reported that the civil protection order filed by his ex-wife, Courtney Smith, prevented Zach Smith from picking up the children prior to 6 p.m.

Violating a protection order is a misdemeanor in Delaware County. Smith was expected to be arraigned Friday morning.

In this Sept. 16, 2017 photo, Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith watches before the start of an NCAA college football game against Army in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State placed head football coach Urban Meyer paid administrative leave Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of domestic violence against Smith, years before Smith was fired last week. (Marvin Fong//The Plain Dealer via AP) (Photo: The Associated Press)

In a statement provided to WBNS-TV, Courtney Smith's lawyer, Julia L. Leveridge, said "this was not Mr. Smith's court-ordered parenting time, and the school is not the exchange location."

"School personnel attempted to protect Courtney by placing her in a room away from Mr. Smith," Leveridge said in part of the statement. "After entering the elementary school, Mr. Smith was involved in an altercation with school personnel whom initially contacted the police."

WORLD CHAMPS: Red Sox visit Trump at White House

NBA PLAYOFFS: Nuggets-Blazers Game 7 deserves top billing

In a statement to multiple news outlets, Zach Smith's lawyer, Brad Koffel, called the arrest an "absolutely malicious move by his ex-wife" and accused her of failing to allow the kids to see him the previous night, which he said constitutes being "in contempt of court."

Leveridge said in her statement that "no court has found Courtney in contempt of any court order."

Zach Smith was fired by Ohio State last summer due to a string of domestic abuse allegations levied against him by Courtney Smith. The Buckeyes later commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations, and how they were handled by then-coach Urban Meyer and others in the administration. Meyer was ultimately suspended for three games, and he retired at the conclusion of last season.

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

Source: Read Full Article