Michigan Football Staffer Grabbed Security Guard By The Throat, Bit Lab Tech Following Drunk Driving Arrest

Michigan football's director of performance, Fergus Connolly, was arrested on March 5 on suspicion of drunk driving, but that was just the start of his incident with law enforcement.

According to the police report, Connolly resisted police during his arrest - telling an officer he would "put him in a wheelchair" - grabbed a security guard's throat, and later bit a lab technician. 

MLive's Darcie Moran provides more details surrounding Connolly's arrest:

Connolly was found shoeless - his feet bloody - and incoherent at Second and Madison streets shortly after a reported hit-and-run crash at First and Mosley streets on the city's West Side about 11:50 a.m. March 5, according to the police report.

A witness to the crash - which forced a parked Ford vehicle into a driveway - said the driver of the Chevrolet Tahoe involved "looked so angry" before driving away, according to the police report.

"He was disorientated and smelled of intoxicants," according to Officer Stephanie Kjos-Warner's report. "His eyes were glassed over, as he stared at (the responding officer) and handed his cell phone to her."

However, things escalated when Connolly was taken to the hospital, as he started getting combative.

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He also resisted police during arrest and at the station, where he repeatedly fell from a bench, police said. He was restrained to a chair after taking "an open hand swing," striking an officer on the arm, Marshall said in his report.

There, he assured police he would remain calm before trying to get out of the hospital bed and swinging at Marshall, according to the report.

He was then handcuffed to the bed, but sat up and grabbed a security officer "by the throat," according to the report.

Portions of the altercation with police are redacted from the report, but it states hospital security personnel used four-point restraints to subdue Connolly. While in the restraint, Connolly bit a UM emergency technician on the arm, grazing her skin with his teeth, the report said. The technician said the bite was not hard and didn't break the skin. 

Connolly has not been formally charged as police are waiting for lab results before moving forward. Police have said they plan to seek misdemeanor charges against him.

The 40-year-old has been with Michigan since 2016, spending the past two seasons as Michigan's director of performance along with being the school's director of football of operations in 2017. He is still in both roles.

Prior to joining the Wolverines, Connolly was the director of elite performance for the San Francisco 49ers from 2014-16, the first season of which was spent under Harbaugh.

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