California High School Football Coach Arrested After Students Discover Phone Secretly Recording in Locker Room

A longtime Northern California educator and varsity football coach was taken into custody after students uncovered a hidden mobile device recording them inside a campus locker room, according to municipal law enforcement officials. The incident has sent shockwaves through the local school community and prompted simultaneous police and administrative investigations.

The suspect was identified by the Tracy Police Department on Saturday as 48-year-old Jeffrey Pribble. Pribble works as a physical education teacher and serves as the varsity head football coach at Tracy High School, an educational campus situated in the city of Tracy, located east of the San Francisco metropolitan area.

According to authorities, the illicit recording was uncovered on Thursday when a student and several peers were inside a school locker room preparing for campus activities. While in the changing area, the teenagers noticed a mobile phone that had been positioned to secretly capture video of students while they were changing clothes.

Recognizing the immediate violation of privacy, the group of students took immediate measures to stop the situation from continuing. They successfully halted the active recording function, proceeded to delete the recorded video file directly from the smartphone, and promptly turned the physical device over to an educator on campus to report the incident.

The matter moved from a schoolhouse issue to a formal criminal investigation later that Thursday evening when an alarmed parent learned of the locker room discovery. The concerned parent reached out directly to patrol officers with the Tracy Police Department to report that a covert recording device had been found operating inside the high school facility.

Following the initial report from the parent, the police department mobilized its school resource officers alongside specialized detectives to launch an immediate and detailed inquiry. Investigators quickly worked to review the circumstances surrounding the device, interview relevant parties, and ascertain the rightful owner of the mobile phone that had been recovered from the campus.

By Friday, detectives officially established that the smartphone belonged to Pribble. With the educator tied directly to the device found filming students inside the campus changing room, police officers moved forward with his arrest before publicly announcing the development to the community on Saturday.

District athletic listings, school websites, and personal social media profiles reveal that Pribble has accumulated extensive tenure within the local educational system. He has spent more than two decades—specifically 22 years—working as an educator within the school district, while concurrently serving as the head coach of the varsity football team for the past five years.

Following the Friday arrest, the Tracy Unified School District took administrative measures by placing Pribble on formal leave. School district officials confirmed that the veteran teacher will remain relieved of his professional duties while authorities proceed with an active criminal investigation and district personnel conduct an internal administrative inquiry.

In the aftermath of the arrest, Tracy High School Principal Jon Waggle addressed families by issuing an email communication acknowledging that a campus staff member had been arrested by local police. Although the principal's notification did not publicly name Pribble or elaborate on the exact nature of the legal charges, the correspondence confirmed that the district was working cooperatively with law enforcement.

In his message to parents, Waggle acknowledged the emotional distress and apprehension that the situation could generate throughout the school community. He stated that administrators fully understand how such news raises serious concerns among families, emphasizing that the district shares those deep concerns regarding the general well-being and safety of its student body and campus staff.

Waggle further stressed the administrative expectations placed upon school personnel, affirming that the district remains steadfast in its dedication to holding all employees to the highest ethical and professional benchmarks. He reiterated that Tracy High School and the broader school district pride themselves on fostering safe educational environments for every child in attendance.

The principal concluded his community message by expressing gratitude for the collaborative vigilance that exists among school stakeholders. He underscored that ongoing cooperation among students, parents, and school staff remains the vital foundation for keeping academic facilities secure, thanking community members for their continued partnership and support during a challenging moment for the school.

Tracy Police Chief Sekou Millington released a statement addressing the incident, emphasizing that safeguarding the privacy, safety, and personal dignity of local students stands among the police department's most urgent priorities. Millington stressed that schools must remain environments where young people are entirely protected from harm and misconduct.

Chief Millington remarked that children fundamentally deserve to feel secure at school and in every educational space where they are meant to learn, mature, and simply experience being kids. He reiterated that protecting the physical and emotional welfare of youth represents an essential institutional responsibility that law enforcement approaches with the utmost seriousness.

The police chief concluded his public remarks by commending the quick thinking and integrity of the teenagers who initially discovered the phone. Millington expressed gratitude to the students who promptly reported the incident to trusted adults, while extending appreciation to the patrol officers and detectives tasked with carrying the criminal investigation forward.