Topsail baseball coach suspended following felony charge

PENDER COUNTY, NY (WWAY) — The Pender County School District has suspended Topsail High baseball coach, Jonathan Granville Gehris, with pay.

The school district sent this statement:

“Effective today, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, Pender County Schools has suspended Jonathan Granville Gehris with pay. This suspension will allow time for an investigation and is not to be interpreted in any way as a reflection of his guilt or innocence. As this is a personnel matter, the district will issue no further comments during the investigation.”

Gehris was charged with felony assault by strangulation last week. This was an upgraded charge from an arrest last month.

Yesterday, a dramatic 911 call from the night he was arrested was released.