Fairfield Coach Accused Of Stealing Thousands Of Dollars From Team Cleared Of Wrongdoing
FAIRFIELD (CBS13) - A coach is cleared. The Solano County district attorney announced no charges will be filed against a Fairfield football coach.
Levon Haynes was once accused of stealing money from his team at Vanden High School.
The district attorney is closing the case. He says there's insufficient evidence. The coach spoke only to CBS13's Nick Janes.
This has been a trying five months for Levon Haynes and his family, who faced these accusations that threw his life into chaos. His lawyer said in October not one cent was missing. And tonight, it appears the coach's nightmare is over.
His championship rings are symbols of decades of blood, sweat and tears.
"They're earned. They're definitely not given, they're earned," said Coach Levon Haynes.
Levon is one of only five head football coaches in the 50-year history of Vanden High in Fairfield. So he's walking away with mixed emotions.
The longtime coach accused in August of stealing thousands from his team reached a confidential settlement with Travis Unified School District. The two sides agreed to go their separate ways.
Janes: "You went to school there, you'd been there for decades -- why settle, why walk away?"
Haynes: "To be honest with you, Nick, it's, you know, I felt like it was…needed to move on, needed to move on."
With his wife at his side, the coach delivered an emotional message to his players.
Haynes: "If there's anything that I can do for them..."
Janes: "Hard for you to talk about."
Haynes: "if there's anything I can do for them, I want to let them know I'll be there for them."
From the beginning, the coach maintained his innocence and literally minutes after we left his home. The Solano County district attorney called us to say the case was officially closed because there wasn't enough evidence.
Just like that, the coach was cleared.
A school district spokesperson would not comment today.
As for what's next for Coach Haynes? He wouldn't go into specifics, but said with a smile there are some things in the works, adding it's not really that he's saying good bye, but see you later.
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