Arrest Made in Sucker Punch of Dallas Goedert
Police have arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with a sucker punch he appeared to land squarely on the jaw of Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert at an Aberdeen, S.D., bar/restaurant on Friday night.
The suspect, Kyle Douglas Hadala, is from Sarasota, Fla. A statement from police in Aberdeen on Monday said that Hadala was charged with simple assault.
The police statement read:
“At approximately 1:07 a.m. on 06/20/2020 Aberdeen Police responded to the 1000 block of South Main Street in reference to an assault. It was discovered that an adult male had been punched in the face. The male was transported to Avera St. Lukes Hospital where he was treated and released.
"Investigation led to the arrest of Kyle Douglas Hadala, age 29 of Sarasota, Florida. He was charged with simple assault."
Goedert appeared to get lucky he was OK, judging by a video of the incident that emerged from a Twitter account called @SamStompy.
The account claims to be a friend of the bar/restaurant called the Zoo, which is about 60 miles from Goedert’s hometown of Britton, S.D.
The footage appears to be a security video. Very early in the video, a man who appears to be Goedert steps into the frame to guide one of the patrons out of the bar when another man enters the picture and delivers a solid right to Goedert’s face.
Goedert didn’t appear to see the punch coming and he landed flat on his back, appearing to be unconscious.
Sources have indicated that a group had been goading Goedert and his party of family and friends and Goedert appeared to be playing peacemaker when the punch was delivered.
From the looks of the video, Goedert is fortunate that more damage wasn’t done.
A newspaper in Aberdeen called The American News said police, in the aftermath of the incident, were checking local hotels for a group from Florida with a rental car with plates from Sioux Falls.
Goedert’s teammates lent support on Twitter shortly after the incident, with his roommate, cornerback Avonte Maddox, tweeting, “Yeah, lucky I wasn’t there. Would have been some problems.”
In the comment sections of that tweet, cornerback Rasul Douglas, “Swear to Everything I’d be in jail right now” to which Maddox replied, “Swear Bro.”
Right tackle Lane Johnson tweeted shortly after learning of the incident, “Ridiculous. Let me the time & place. I got you.”
Goedert was a second-round draft pick from South Dakota State in 2018. Last year, he was second on the team in receptions with 58 and second with yards receiving with 607. He had the second-most touchdown catches on the Eagles with five.
