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Bethel Park assistant hockey coach arrested on drug charges

BETHEL PARK, Pa. — The assistant coach of the Bethel Park ice hockey team was dismissed from the team and banned from the facilities after his arrest on Thursday on drug charges.

Kenneth Lehmann, 26, was arrested by Port Authority police in the Sheraden park-and-ride lot off the West Busway, Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said.

Police said at the time of his arrest Lehmann had a couple bags of organic heroin and a loaded hypodermic needle.

He will be issued a summons to appear for a hearing once officers finish the paperwork, Ritchie said.

“I want to apologize to the kids I taught over the past three years for embarrassing them and the school,” Lehmann said. “It's a battle for me every day. I really believe I have changed the lives of the kids in a good way, and seeing and helping them every day really helped save my life.”

Lehmann was an assistant coach for the Bethel Park Black Hawks of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League.

The president of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League told Channel 11’s Alan Jennings on Friday that Lehmann has been officially banned from coaching.

The hockey team is supported by the parents and is not affiliated with the Bethel Park School District, school athletic director Amy Scheuneman said.

“Kenny made a mistake and is no longer a part of the team,” Black Hawks coach Jim McVay said after sending an email to parents. “He never had drugs around the team or at the facilities. My thoughts and prayers are with Kenny, who is a great kid and a great human being.”

Lehmann said he had not been around the team for the past six weeks because of a medical condition.

State court records show that Lehmann is on probation after pleading guilty to crimes such as robbery, theft and forgery that occurred in 2010.

Trevor Fetch, who plays in a different hockey league, said he finds the arrest a bit shocking.

“A coach is supposed to be a role model and I don’t think having a background like that is setting a good example,” Fetch said.

Lehmann was a high school hockey standout and captain of the Pittsburgh all-star team that won the national tournament in 2007 in Chicago, McVay said.