By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com
The shirtless man tackled after interrupting the football game between Colfax and Placer high schools Friday night has been identified as Patrick Hurley.
The man who tacked him - applying the "Hit of the Year" - Troy Minton-Sander is an off duty Placer Sheriff's Department lieutenant. He is a former player for Placer High and is the he father of a current team member, Stone Sander.
"He was there off duty watching his son play football," explained Lt. Mark Reed, a spokesman for the Placer Sheriff's office.
The well-built Hurley, 25, of Arnold, Mo, walked onto the field during the second quarter of the game. Shirtless and his pants hanging dangerously low, Hurley walked onto the field with a bottle of white liquid, poured it out before throwing it menacingly.
Reed said Minton-Sander used force - in the form of a football tackle - because there was some thought that the man had a knife and his odd behavior suggested he might be on serious drugs.
"You have to restrain the man. You don't know what he is on," Reed said.
Reed said the fact that the suspect was sweating with his shirt off suggested he might have been on some "major drug," perhaps even "bath salts" - the drug blamed in the Miami face-eating case.
The scenario demanded the situation be handled differently than if the game were disrupted by a streaker.
In the video, you can see one man distracting Hurley, while Minton-Sander squared him up for a jarring tackle from behind.
Placer defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes told the Colfax Record it was the "Hit of the Year."
Hurley, who is identified as a Colfax area resident in one report, was cited for being drunk in public and released the following morning, Reed said.
To see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4ODc1YZ1qo
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