Charges: Fan Threw Popcorn Bag At H.S. Basketball Ref, Then Stole His Whistle
BECKER COUNTY, Minn. (WCCO) - A Detroit Lakes man faces charges for allegedly assaulting a referee during a high school basketball game.
Phillip Lokken, 45, faces a fifth-degree assault charge and a disorderly conduct charge in Becker County.
According to the complaint, the incident took place at a game between Lake Park-Audubon and Win-E-Mac on Jan. 13.
Lokken threw a bag of popcorn at a referee, after he called a foul on a Win-E-Mac player. The referee kicked Lokken out of the gym, but Lokken flipped the ref off and approached him on the court. Lokken then allegedly grabbed the referee's whistle and shirt and tore the whistle off the lanyard.
Lokken told police that the referee had been making "bulls**t calls all night," the complaint says.
Both the assault and disorderly conduct charges are misdemeanors, and come with a maximum sentence of 90 days in prison, if Lokken is convicted.