Former Avon High School Football Coach's Charges Dropped

The case of a former Avon High School Football Coach accused of permitting minors to have alcohol on New Year's Eve was dismissed in Enfield Superior Court on Feb. 3.

David Olson had resigned from his post as freshman football coach in Avon the day after a reported teenage party in his Simsbury home on Dec. 31, 2010.

"Mr. Olson resigned as freshman football coach on Jan. 2 because of what he anticipated to be bad publicity since he had been contacted by news reporters as of Jan. 2," David M. Moore, Olson's attorney, told Patch on Thursday. "Mr. Olson chose to resign and preserve the integrity of the Avon football program. This decision was incredibly hard because Mr. Olson loves coaching kids. He knew the program should not suffer while he defended himself."

The charges – permitting a minor to possess alcohol and violation of a town ordinance that prohibits underage drinking on private property – were dismissed Feb. 3 in Enfield Superior Court.

"The state saw fit to review all of the pertinent facts and allow for a dismissal to enter so that Mr. Olson could begin to clear his name," Moore told Patch. "It is my hope that Mr. Olson will be able to put this behind him and restore his good name thanks to the dismissal."

"The case was complicated by extrajudicial comments made by the Simsbury Police Department, which would have been highly prejudicial to a fair trial," Moore said. He would not describe the prejudicial comments that he said police made.

Lt. Fred Sifodaskalakis, spokesman for the Simsbury Police Department,  said that he was not aware of the claim that police made prejudicial comments and he declined to comment further. A representative of the state's attorney's office said the office does not comment on cases that are dismissed.