Horrifying high school soccer assault prompts police investigation

Police are looking into two apparent assaults tied to a South Dakota boys’ high school match, according to a report from Keloland News.The viral incident occurred between Rapid City Central’s Jaxson Bergman and Brookings’ Kyle Soost during a game last week.Prior to halftime, the two fought for the ball and collided before Bergman escalated things by shoving Soost to the ground instead of chasing down the ball.While Soost was on the ground, Bergman kicked him in the back of the head before punching him five times in the head.

Brookings police chief Michael Drake told Keloland News they will be interviewing more than 100 witnesses and viewing multiple videos outside of the one that went viral — and garnered over 20 million views — for its investigation.As a result of the incident, the game was delayed 10 minutes, and Bergman was given a red card.According to the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s (SDHSAA) rules, a player who receives a red card must serve a one-game suspension and take a sportsmanship course.SDHSAA executive director Dan Swartos told Keloland News it was an “unacceptable scenario.”“Any time anyone’s ejected, per our rules, they miss the next game and they have to take a sportsmanship course,” Swartos said.“It’s mostly a school decision.

Now, if it’s something to where we strongly disagree with with what they do, it’s something that where we could push it a little bit farther.We do have some rules to do that, but in general, we’d like to leave that up to the school and their own policies that they have.”A steep punishment at school could also be in store for Bergman.The Rapid City School District’s code of conduct policy states that students who are “found guilty of physically or verbally assaulting students or school personnel” could see a suspension or be expelled if the incident occurs on school property while taking part in a school-related activity.“Rapid City Central is aware of an inc...