File photo.

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Ed. note: this story contains racial slurs.

A parent of football players at St. Bernard’s Academy in Eureka has been accused of striking another woman in the head with a stainless steel water bottle and using racial slurs at a game earlier this month.

She was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse on Wednesday. Court documents allege she injured two women at the game.

According to an arrest warrant issued for Charane Sirrine — a 46-year-old Fortuna resident — school officials had reported to police that an altercation happened on Oct. 17, 2026 after a football game.

Sirrine allegedly gave a woman a concussion from the water bottle strike. She allegedly fractured the finger of 67-year-old woman when she grabbed her hand and caused her to fall, according to the warrant. The woman later reported swelling in her knee, which was already injured.

She faces sentencing enhancements alleging she caused great bodily injury to the two women.

Sirrine, meanwhile, was uninjured, according to the warrant. She told police she was defending herself from people attacking on both sides, according to a summary of her statement.

An arraignment hearing, where she will be formally read the charges and enter her plea, is scheduled in December.

The woman who was allegedly struck in the head is seeking a restraining order to protect herself and her mother, the 67-year-old woman. She decided to pursue charges and contacted the Eureka Police Department the day after the game, according to the warrant.

Information from multiple involved parties and witnesses who spoke to police alleged Sirrine directed racial slurs to a woman she injured and more generally to Black teenagers on the football team.

But absent from criminal charges filed this week are allegations of a hate crime, which was one charge the Eureka Police Department arrested Sirrine on suspicion of earlier this month.

According to Humboldt County District Attorney Stacey Eads, prosecuting hate crimes in general requires evidence that proves, beyond a reasonable doubt:

  1. the defendant is biased against the victim based on the victim’s protected characteristic(s)
  2. the bias was a substantial motivation for the defendant to use force, or threaten use of force, to interfere with the victim’s protected right or privilege.

She said that sufficient evidence is needed to prove that a defendant willfully used force with the intent to interfere with their rights “because of a legally protected characteristic or perceived characteristic of the victim.”

Meanwhile, Eads believes that there is sufficient admissible evidence to prove the other crimes Sirrine has been charged with, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hate crimes are generally difficult to prosecute.

According to the California Department of Justice, there were just eight hate crime events reported in Humboldt County in 2025, though researchers broadly believe hate crimes are underreported.

Four were referred to prosecutors and one reached a disposition, though they were not convicted, according to DOJ data from 2025.

It appears Sirrine approached and started a verbal fight with the alleged victim because she believed the woman was the parent of a child on the football team involved in a bullying-type incident the month before. According to one witness interviewed by police, this was incorrect and the victim does not have a child on the football team.

Both parties later told police they did not know each other.

According to the arrest warrant, police believed Sirrine started the altercation by approaching two women sitting on the bleachers, telling them their children would go to jail for what happened in Michigan. Sirrine was concerned over an incident involving teenagers on the football team and was confronting parents about it.

The team went to Michigan for a game last month, and an incident in the hotel involving her sons occurred. According to the arrest warrant, a group of boys had pulled one of Sirrine’s children into a hallway wearing only a towel, and a video was shared online. The police officer notes a possibility his brother shared the video. “Multiple boys were suspended for their behavior,” the warrant noted, but Sirrine appeared to be looking for further consequences for the members of the football team, by confronting parents previously.

A witness reported to police she said something to the effect of “it’s always the black kids” and “little black pedophiles always do something.” The alleged victim reported Sirrine calling her a “big black n— bitch” in her restraining order request, and said the woman used the n-word multiple times.

Sirrine and the other woman got in a verbal altercation, with raised voices,  but police believe Sirrine made physical contact first. When the alleged victim went to leave, Sirrine followed her, according to the warrant. Sirrine allegedly hit the woman in the head with the metal bottle after someone pulled the woman away from Sirrine to break them up, according to the sworn statement of a Eureka Police Department officer.

When speaking to police, Sirrine claimed the other party started the altercation, and said one person pulled her hair and another pushed her.

The alleged victim had a black eye and large knot on her head, according to the arrest warrant.

The officer reported in the warrant that a heavy odor of alcohol emanated from Sirrine as he was speaking to her (and a witness guessed her behavior had to do with drinking), though she later denied this when speaking to police.

Sirrine identified herself as a coach of track and field in a social media post from this year, before making her profile private. Multiple attempts to obtain comment from St. Bernard’s through phone and email went unreturned.

She was arrested on October 21, and posted bail that same day. Court records reflect the bail amount was $60,000.

Woman Accused of Fatally Striking Pedestrian While Under the Influence to Be Released Before Trial 

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A woman accused of fatally striking a pedestrian this month on Broadway was granted supervised release on Wednesday.

This was a reversal of a previous decision by a judge, who had found Raeleen Olson was a risk to the public.

According to court minutes, a judge ordered Olson to be released Wednesday after hearing arguments from her defense attorney. He found she did not qualify for a no-bail hold.

A no-bail hold is typically used for very serious crimes, and instances where a person is determined to be a danger to public safety.

Olson does not have a criminal record and cooperated with police following the crash, including drug testing. She was arrested at the scene. Her defense attorney described the crash, at a previous hearing, as an isolated incident in the woman’s life.

She was released to a program on the 28th. She did not post bail.

The terms of her release require two Narcotics Anonymous meetings a week and to submit to chemical testing, among other requirements, according to court records.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges including DUI.