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HARTFORD- A local girls basketball coach has been arrested for punching one of his own players and slamming her to the ground after a game in Indiana.

47-year-old Fred Freeman of Hartford was arrested for misdemeanor battery after getting into a fight in a parking lot outside the Indiana Fieldhouse.   

That player was a 17-year-old girl.

Police in Indiana tell TODAY'S TMJ4 the coach and player got heated after the team lost a game. The coach's daughter and the other players watched it all.

"We have an issue where we have a male coach that physically attacked a young female player," said a 9-1-1 caller

The 17-year-old female player did not need medical treatment but she was injured.

"... she's got scrapes on her elbows and she's got some bruises on her arms," according to the 9-1-1 caller.

Police caught up with Freeman at a local restaurant where he had taken the team after the alleged fight. The injured player was not with them.

"He claimed that he was the victim and that the player attacked him," said officer Tom Weger with the Fishers, Indiana Police Department.

But police say a witness told a different story.

"During the verbal altercation the coach grabbed her punched her in the face, threw her on the ground and then jumped on top of her," said Weger.

TODAY'S TMJ4 stopped by Coach Freeman's house but no one answered the door.

Freeman's daughter Ashley also plays on the team, she tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "He never once punched her," said Ashley.  "She was literally going crazy, screaming and punching.  It's such a shame that one girl's lies can ruin a team (and) a coach's reputation."