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player ready...A McHenry High School dean and football coach has been charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after he was accused of striking a female relative “in the face with his hand,” according to McHenry County court records and McHenry police.
Nathaniel Zunkel, 40, was taken into custody about 8:30 p.m. Saturday after police were called to his McHenry home, police said.
Zunkel has since been released on recognizance bond and is due back in court July 2. According to court records, he was ordered to surrender all firearms and must have no contact with his accuser for 72 hours.
On Monday, the woman requested an order of protection against Zunkel, McHenry County court records show.
Zunkel is head varsity football coach at McHenry High School and is dean of students at the school’s East Campus. He has been placed on leave “pending the outcome of our investigation,” according to a release from McHenry Community High School District 156.
The district will “work with law enforcement as it conducts its own inquiry into the allegations,” the release said.
McHenry police said there were three minors in the home at the time of the incident Saturday “and they were not physically harmed in any way.” Zunkel was “taken into custody without incident,” police said.
In November 2016, the same female relative filed a request for an order of protection against Zunkel, but the order was not granted, according to McHenry County court records.
In that petition, the woman detailed an ongoing verbal argument and said that Zunkel “put his hand in my face and forced me down to the ground.”
Zunkel declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.