Police: Referee Allegedly Assaulted By Father After Calling Penalty Against Son's Team
WILMINGTON, Del., (CBS) – Police say a Newark man has been arrested after he was allegedly involved in an assault on a referee after the official called a penalty against his son's soccer team.
New Castle County Police say 42-year-old Marcos Jimenez was charged with abusing a sports official.
On Sunday afternoon at 2:52 p.m., County Police responded to Delcastle Recreational Park at the 800 block of McKennans Church Road in Wilmington for an assault.
When officers arrived, investigators say they learned that there was a physical altercation that occurred between Jimenez, a player on his son's soccer team, and a referee.
The referee indicated to police that he was assaulted by two men because they felt he was being biased in his calls against their team.
Investigators learned that during the game Jimenez was allegedly making threatening comments, which were being directed toward the referee, and the player and Jimenez allegedly continued to argue with the referee both from the field and the sidelines.
When the referee threw a flag to penalize the player's team, police say the player began assaulting the referee. Police say Jimenez then walked onto the field and also began to physically assault the referee.
According to investigators, the referee was struck several times in the face during the attack.
The referee's teenage daughter attempted to intervene and help, but investigators say she was forcibly pushed away by Jimenez.
Jimenez was later taken into custody at his residence without incident.
He was charged with abuse of a sports official/assault in the third degree, harassment, conspiracy in the third degree and offensive touching.
Jimenez was arraigned and released on $2,500 unsecured bail.
Police say they are obtaining additional information and attempting to make contact with the soccer player in order to get his account of the incident.
