SHARON-FARRELL Man pleads guilty in brawl at game

The district attorney said he is still determining who else will be charged in the fight.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- The only person charged so far in the melee that ended the Feb. 2 Sharon-Farrell high school basketball game at Sharon High School has pleaded guilty to charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Jesse J. Wilson, 20, of Sherman Avenue, Sharon, a former football standout at Farrell, was originally also charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, rioting and recklessly endangering another person.
James Epstein, Mercer County District Attorney, said his office agreed to allow Wilson to plead guilty to the lesser two counts, and Wilson entered his plea at 2:30 p.m. Thursday before Common Pleas Judge Thomas Dobson.
He could face one to two years in jail on the resisting arrest count and up to 90 days in jail for disorderly conduct. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
What happened: Police said 70 to 100 people were involved in the fight that erupted between a man and a woman in the stands just before the game ended. The fight spread into the commons area outside the gym and continued later in and around the emergency room of Sharon Regional Health System, where some injured went for treatment.
Police have said more people, both adults and juveniles, face charges.
Lost balance: Epstein said Wilson admitted in open court that he became aware of the disturbance in the stands and saw police trying to arrest one of his juvenile relatives.
Wilson said that he moved toward the disturbance in an effort to interfere with that arrest but that he lost his balance and flailed his arms, striking a police officer in the process, Epstein said.
Wilson further admitted that he fought with officers who then tried to arrest him, causing a group of people to fall down the bleachers, but that he felt the force used by those officers was reasonable and appropriate to the circumstances, Epstein said.
A review of a videotape of the melee appeared to confirm Wilson's claim that he lost his balance when he tried to interfere with the arrest of his relative, Epstein said.
Sharon Police Department, as well as the officer who was struck, agreed to the plea bargain, Epstein said.
Both school districts and Sharon Regional cooperated in the investigation, he said.
Authorities also reviewed 911 audio tapes of calls for help by Sharon police officers at the scene.
However, it was impossible to determine from those tapes specifically why the officers were calling for help and that prompted a very fast and large police response to the school, Epstein said.