University of Alabama Coach Nick Saban's Daughter Accused of Assault

The alleged attack was after a 'power hour' drinking game and a Facebook post.

ByABC News
July 13, 2012, 11:25 AM

July 13, 2012 — -- The daughter of famed University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban is fighting allegations that she attacked one of her sorority sisters after a night of drinking games and a clash over a Facebook posting.

University of Alabama student Sarah Grimes filed a lawsuit in Tuscaloosa, Ala., accusing sorority sister Kristen Saban of assault and battery.

Grimes didn't want to prosecute the case at the time of the alleged altercation, August 2010, and the case was closed, according to the Tuscaloosa Police Department. The lawsuit for the civil case was filed at the end of June and, on Thursday, Kristen Saban's attorney filed a motion for dismissal. Through her attorney, Saban has denied the accusations against her.

The lawsuit alleges that Grimes, Saban and a group of friends were playing "power hour," a drinking game set to music posted on YouTube, on Aug. 28, 2010.

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Around midnight, the group went to a bar where, "the drinking continued and Kristen's behavior became more erratic," according to the suit.

Saban's boyfriend at the time, identified only as "BV" in the lawsuit, was also at the bar and Saban allegedly became angry with him because he was not paying enough attention to her.

The women left the bar after last call and planned to go home and freshen up before going to pledge sister's house, according to the suit. At home, Saban became upset while speaking to her boyfriend on the phone. She allegedly lay down on the floor with two friends and "became emotional" when talking about how no one understood "how it was" for her.

"After Kristen refused to get off the floor after several people had tried to help her, Sarah looked over at Kristen and said, 'Kristen, please just shut up. We're all sick and tired of hearing it,'" the suit says.

"Kristen jumped up off the floor screaming, 'No one likes you, you don't have any friends' and stormed to her room," according to the suit.

Saban and Grimes continued to argue, according to the lawsuit, about an hour later, Grimes checked her Facebook and saw that Saban had posted a status saying, "No one likes Sarah! Yayyyyy!"

An infuriated Grimes told a friend, "I'm done" and the friend "cautioned Sarah from confronting Kristen about the status because of her known violent nature and previous assault on others," the suit said.

Grimes allegedly replied to the friend, "Well if she touches me, I'll kill her," the suit says.

Grimes walked across the hall to Saban's room and demanded that Saban remove the status. They exchanged words and Grimes allegedly told Saban she was "crazy" and they were "done."

"Kristen immediately used both of her hands and shoved Sarah into the corner of Courtney's open door, slamming Sarah's head," the lawsuit claimed. "Kristen proceeded to punch Sarah Grimes multiple times in her head and nose, and to pull Sarah's hair, even though Kristen knew that Sarah had really bad migraines from a prior head injury from an automobile accident."

The fighting continued, the suit claims, until Grimes allegedly noticed that "a great amount of blood was running down her chest and into her bra" and there was blood on the wooden floor.

It took two other girls to pull Saban off of Grimes, the lawsuit claims.

Grimes' "temple had swollen to the size of a tennis ball" and Saban told her she had acted in self-defense because Grimes had thrown her into the door frame.

After a friend told Grimes she needed to go to the hospital to be checked out, "Kristen began hysterically crying louder and screaming, 'I'm going to jail!' over and over," according to the lawsuit.