High school coach might have stolen game proceeds

A high school basketball coach was charged with stealing nearly $3,000 from the proceeds of a football game, authorities said.\nColumbus North basketball coach Barry Huckeby, who had been suspended with pay from the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., told police he took some money but did not confess to stealing the whole amount, according to a probable cause affidavit filed this week.\nColumbus police officer Jay Frederick said Huckeby told him that he took two bills from the proceeds of the Oct. 20 game, and that the coach thought they were $50 bills.\nHuckeby, 33, a math teacher, told police that in his duties as assistant athletic director, he counted that night's ticket sales totaling more than $5,000, which he prepared for a bank deposit, the affidavit said.\nHuckeby's attorney, Richard Eynon, said he was disappointed the felony theft charge was filed and that his client maintains his innocence.\n"There's an explanation for everything that happened through the whole process," Eynon said.\nHuckeby was arrested Tuesday and released from the Bartholomew County Jail after posting $15,000 bond. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of six months to three years.\nHuckeby was hired in May to coach the boys' basketball team, and school officials said they have begun the process of firing him.\nSuperintendent John Quick declined to comment on Huckeby's arrest.