Chris Beard, the head coach for the University of Texas men's basketball team, was arrested by the Austin Police Department early Monday morning on felony domestic violence charges.
"He's in our jail," Travis County Sheriff's senior public information officer Kristen Dark told Defector. "Austin Police Department made the arrest."
ESPN reported on the arrest Monday morning:
Beard was arrested by police in Austin, Texas, and booked at 4:18 a.m. on a third-degree charge of "assault of a family/household member, impede breath circulation," or strangulation.
Austin police told ESPN they received a "disturbance hotshot" call, and officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Vista Lane shortly after midnight Monday. The Austin Police Department's website defines a "hotshot" call as "incidents which are in progress are an immediate threat to life and/or public safety. ... These calls are dispatched immediately."
In a statement to the Austin-American Statesman, Beard's attorney Perry Minton said, "Coach Beard is 100% innocent of these charges. He should never have been arrested. The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”
"The University is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard," the school said in a statement, per news reports. "We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process." The university has not said if Beard will be present Monday night when the Longhorns play Rice at home.
Beard, 49, is in his second year as head coach at Texas, which is ranked sixth in the AP poll.
