High school football coach arrested after discovery of cellphone recording in locker room

A high school football coach in Tracy, Calif., was arrested Friday after the discovery of a cellphone that was recording students inside a locker room, authorities said.

On the evening of Sept. 10, a parent contacted police in the San Joaquin County city, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, after students at Tracy High School found the cellphone filming them in an on-campus locker room while they were changing.

The students stopped the recording, deleted the video and gave the device to a teacher, the Tracy Police Department said in a statement.

School resource officers and other investigators determined that the phone belonged to Jeffrey Pribble, head varsity coach of the football team, police said.

Pribble, 48, was arrested at the high school, and the Tracy Unified School District has placed him on leave pending the results of a criminal investigation, according to the police statement.

Pribble could not be reached for comment. San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department inmate records did not indicate that he was in custody Monday.

Erin Haight, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County district attorney’s office, said in an email that the case was “an active, ongoing investigation” and, as of Monday, had not been referred to prosecutors to consider criminal charges.

“Our children deserve to feel safe at school and in every space where they should be able to learn, grow, and simply be kids,” Tracy Police Chief Sekou Millington said in the statement. “Protecting the safety, privacy, and well-being of our students is a responsibility we take seriously. We are grateful to the students who brought this incident to the attention of adults and to the officers and detectives who acted quickly to investigate.”

In a statement provided to The Times on Monday, the Tracy Unified School District said it had placed Pribble, who also is a physical education teacher, on leave before his on-campus arrest.

“We are deeply concerned about the allegations and remain focused on protecting the safety of our students,” the statement read. “The District is fully cooperating with law enforcement and we are not able to provide specific details about the allegations, as this is an ongoing investigation.”

The day Pribble was arrested, Tracy High’s undefeated Bulldogs varsity football team won their away game in a 56-0 rout of the Lathrop High School Spartans.

In a postgame news conference, according to the team’s website, assistant coach Justin Evans said of the Bulldogs: “They stayed focused all night, not allowing any distractions or the moment get to them. Our offensive line was amazing tonight. We had time to pass and the running lanes were wide open.”