Roosevelt officer apologizes for using pepper spray on football fans

ROOSEVELT — A police officer who pepper sprayed a group performing a traditional Maori war chant after a high school football game included an apology in his written explanation of his decision.

"I sincerely apologize to every innocent bystander who may have been affected by the event that took place as a result of my actions," Roosevelt police officer Luke Stradinger wrote about the Oct. 20 incident.

"I would never intend to cause any discomfort to anyone in the course of my duties," he added.

Stradinger's "use of force narrative" was included in a number of documents released by the Roosevelt Police Department in response to a public records request. The documents include a dozen witness statements and a report by Wade Butterfield, the other police officer on duty at the annual rivalry game between Union and Uintah high schools.

Stradinger and Butterfield work part-time for the police department, but each have more than a decade of experience as law enforcement officers. They both reported that a group of Polynesian fans had crowded around the exit from the football field at the end of the game, preventing people from leaving. 

The group was "yelling obscenities at the refs, exhibiting some poor sportsmanship, and doing some aggressive posturing," Butterfield wrote, adding that he believed he and Stradinger were facing a possible riot situation.

"I have seen a riot firsthand and know how dangerous they can be in an instant," Butterfield wrote. "At the time I perceived the actions of these individuals as aggressive and threatening. I had no idea that (their) blockage of the exit was for any other reason than to riot."

The group had crowded the exit to perform the Haka — a traditional Maori war chant commonly performed before football and rugby games throughout Utah — as a show of support for Union's players. The team had just lost the final game of a winless season in the last minute of the game.

But Stradinger, in his report, said he didn't know what the Haka was.

"I have never seen such an event, or even heard of such a thing," he wrote.