By MONTANA McCULLOUGH, Student Reporter
Former Northwestern softball coach is to appear in court on March 21 for two felony charges and a misdemeanor charge.
Charlie Zeilman was coaching the Northwestern Lady Rangers softball team when he was arrested on February 24. Zeilman is charged with driving under the influence, transporting an open container of an alcoholic beverage and receiving property that was stolen/embezzled. At the time of his arrest, Zeilman was traveling to the Angry Bull Saloon to retrieve his cell phone. Woods County Sheriff’s Deputy, Adam Honeyman, was the arresting officer for Zeilman.
A call came into the Woods County E-911 dispatcher at 1:50 a.m. about Zeilman stealing a vehicle from a woman he was going home with. Officer Honeyman was advised of the event and headed to the Tidal Wave Carwash, where the incident occurred. While Officer Honeyman was traveling to the Angry Bull Saloon, he came across the vehicle with Zeilman driving.
Officer Honeyman pulled Zeilman over and immediately placed him in handcuffs because he had stolen the vehicle. While Zeilman was in handcuffs, Officer Honeyman detected a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.
Zeilman was given a breath test and it revealed a .10 alcohol concentration. After the field sobriety test, Officer Honeyman searched the vehicle and found an open container containing alcohol. Zeilman was then taken to the Woods County jail.
He was released later Friday afternoon on a $5,000 bail. After this incident, Zeilman resigned from his job as head softball coach. Steve Valencia, Associate Vice President for University Relations, said he resigned effectively immediately.