Fridley police arrested Hill-Murray high school head varsity football coach Mark Mauer this week for allegedly soliciting prostitution.

Update (Feb. 26, 2013): Mauer has resigned at Hill-Murray, according to news media reports.

Mauer was one of 19 men charged Tuesday with misdemeanors during a two-day police operation at a Fridley hotel. He was booked into the Anoka County jail and released. Investigators are preparing the cases for the city prosecutor.

The Fridley Police department declined to confirm that the man they arrested is the Hill-Murray coach. Fridley Patch identified Mauer by matching public and published records of his name, date of birth, address and photo with the defendant’s booking information and photo.

Mauer wasn't immediately available by phone at Hill-Murray School Friday, and another number from court records and published online has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Mauer did not appear at an eviction hearing for his residence in Washington County court Thursday.

Athlete, Coach, City Council Member, Car Salesman
In 2012, his first year at Hill-Murray, Mauer led the Pioneers, a perennial high school football powerhouse, to the state tournament in Class 4A, where they lost in the quarterfinals. He replaced former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brooks Bollinger, who left the Maplewood-based Catholic high school after a one season for a coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Hill-Murray Football web page says, “The Hill-Murray Football program is about blocking, tackling, catching, running, and kicking, but it is also about ...”

• “Promoting: family values based on strong Christian values”
• “Dedicated to excellence for all involved—administrators, coaches, and players”
• “Who we are is more important than how good we are. … However, the most valuable entity that one can ever invest in is other people. … In Pioneer Football we talk not only about investing on the field but off of it, as well.”

The coaching job at Hill-Murray is Mauer’s first at the high school level, but Mauer, a cousin of Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, has a long career in football, both as an athlete and coach. The Minnesota Twins drafted him out of St. Paul’s Harding High School, but he opted instead for the University of Nebraska, where as quarterback he led the Cornhuskers to two Big Eight titles. After college he held coaching positions at Nebraska, North Dakota State, University of Wisconsin-Madison and New Mexico State.

Mauer returned to his hometown in 2004 to serve as head football coach at Concordia University. Then, in June 2011, he left. According to one news report, “Director of Athletics Tom Rubbelke has announced that he has accepted the resignation of head football coach Mark Mauer, effective immediately, as he pursues other professional opportunities.” Mauer sold cars at the Mauer family auto dealership until landing the Hill Murray job in May 2012.  

Mauer also served on the St. Paul City Council in 1997, after the council voted 5-1 to choose him over five other candidates to fill the remaining year in the term of Council Member Dino Guerin, who was elected to the Ramsey County Board in 1996.

The Arrests
Mauer, 54, of Woodbury, was part of a busy day for the Fridley Police Department, which conducts one or two prostitution details each year, according to Lt. Mike Monsrud.

The 19 men arrested in Fridley Tuesday ranged in age from 23 to 56 and came from as far away as Edina, Rogers and Stillwater. (The day before, police used a similar sting to arrested four women ranging in age from 18–32 for prostitution.)

Fridley police booked four rooms at the LivInn Hotel for the operation. In one room, a female police officer working undercover met the men who answered ads offering sex on Backpage.com and other websites. Across the hall, police monitoring the first room by video, waiting for the exchange of money for sexual favors before moving in to make an arrest. In a third room, police processed the men after their arrest. A fourth room served as a holding area where arrested men waited to be taken to the county jail in Anoka.

Mauer has a court hearing in Anoka scheduled for March 20.

See comments below for details added by other news outlets, including a statement from Hill-Murray School.