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Winthrop hockey coaches cleared of wrongdoing in underage drinking probe

WINTHROP, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Winthrop police announced Monday they plan to seek a criminal complaint against a 22-year-old man accused of providing alcohol to members of the Winthrop High School hockey team.

Investigators say the complaint comes after interviews and video evidence recovered from Winthrop Middle School and a liquor store. They accuse the unidentified 22-year-old of bringing alcohol to the locker room inside the middle school for the players.

Winthrop police and school officials launched an investigation in February after an officer reportedly found beer cans and smelled alcohol inside the locker rooms at the middle school.

Officials told FOX 25 the team had just returned to their locker rooms at the middle school to take showers after a hockey tournament.

The team's coaching staff has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident, police say.

"The interviews show that Coach Dale Dunbar, Assistant Coach Michael Norris, and Assistant Coach Matthew Driscoll were in the coaches' locker room at the time the 22-year-old man, allegedly brought the alcohol to the players' locker room," read a statement from police. "They did not procure the alcohol and were not aware of its presence until Winthrop Police arrived at approximately 11:40 that night."

The players will face administrative discipline at school.

Police say the 22-year-old man is an alumnus of WHS, but is not a school employee or connected with the team. He will be summonsed to court at a later date for arraignment if a clerk finds probable cause to issue the complaint.