A 41-year-old Tamaqua man who wasn’t wearing a mask and refused to leave the Tamaqua High School football stadium in 2020 was found guilty of defiant trespass-actual communication to leave school.

A Schuylkill County jury found Thomas L. Williams III Thursday not guilty of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct/physical offense and harassment. Common Pleas Judge Christina Hale ordered a presentence investigation, and scheduled sentencing for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 21

Williams remains free on $5,000 straight cash bail.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Foose prosecuted the case. James Heidecker Jr. was Williams’ attorney.

Tamaqua Police charged Williams with the offenses after an incident at 7:38 p.m. Oct. 23, 2020, where he entered the Tamaqua stadium without a facemask. A district employee told him he could not do so, prompting him to push her aside, police said.

Williams was talking to Walker Township Police Chief Doug Springer when Tamaqua Patrolman Corey Herring and Tamaqua Athletic Director Mike Hromyak approached Williams. Hromyak told Williams he was trespassing and told to go. Williams, who was holding onto a fence, refused to leave when told several times even by police.

He ignored commands and resisted arrest, and during a brief struggle, Springer’s left wrist was injured, police said. Williams was then placed into a police vehicle.