New Era CEO Chris Koch has reportedly been arrested and charged with felony reckless endangerment.
According to reports, Koch, 61, allegedly attempted to run over a man outside Oliver’s Restaurant in Buffalo on Saturday night. He was arraigned this morning.
Koch reportedly was allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with his girlfriend’s ex-husband, who allegedly came to the restaurant “not by chance” and approached Koch’s vehicle and called on him to “settle this like men.”
When the man began moving toward Koch’s vehicle, the longtime executive “allegedly engaged in conduct that created grave risk of death to another person by intentionally driving his vehicle toward the victim.”
The man avoided being hit but did apparently suffer a hand injury and damage to his vehicle after Koch allegedly struck it.
Koch is the “fourth generation CEO of the family-owned company New Era Cap,” a position he has held for nearly 30 years. New Era Cap is MLB’s No. 1 licensee.
The company is also the exclusive headwear rights holder for the NBA and NFL and owns the naming rights for New Era Field, the home of the Buffalo Bills.