A high school basketball player in Massachusetts is facing a criminal charge after assaulting a referee during a game Wednesday night at Cohasset Middle-High School.
The Cohasset Police Department announced a 16-year-old boy from Excel High School in south Boston, who will not be identified any further because of his age, is charged with one count of assault and battery after "sucker punching" the ref.
Police Chief William Quigley said the teenager will be scheduled to appear in Quincy Juvenile Court for a show cause hearing at a later date.
Boston 25 News reported that Cohasset Public School Superintendent Patrick Sullivan said the player allegedly punched the referee in the face after thinking he was charged with another foul when the ref called Cohasset for traveling.
Well-known photographer in the area, Dan Leahy, reportedly witnessed the altercation.
"Out of my peripheral I see a South Boston player coming over to the baseline, I assumed to take the ball out. In fact, he launched at an official and gave him a full nelson right to the side of the head. Which brought the ref down, and he kept exercising a physical attack on this poor ref who was bent over and couldn’t defend himself," Leahy told Boston 25.
"There’s so much anger built in to assault an authoritative figure in that manner. And it was vicious, not like he went up and bumped him or anything like that. He went at him with a full fist, it’s a shame," he added.
Cohasset police said officers responded to an assault at the gym at 6:45 p.m. Upon arrival, officers cleared the gym and the game was ended immediately. No one else was involved in the assault besides the one Excel player.
The referee did not require medical attention, police said.
The president of the Massachusetts State Basketball Officials Association (MSBOA) said they are angry and frustrated about this incident, but not shocked.
In a statement released to Boston 25, the MSBOA said:
"The shortage of officials, both in our state and nationwide, has been well documented. And while there may be a myriad of reasons for the crisis, the abhorrent treatment of officials by fans, coaches and players is at the top of the list. And while the majority of stakeholders in high school sports do not fall into that category, the sad reality is that incidents like this continue to occur.
"We call on the local authorities, Boston Public Schools and the MIAA to take swift action that includes appropriate punishment for anyone sharing in the responsibility for this dangerous attack. It is not up to us to determine what those sanctions look like, but we are positive that they must be commensurate with the sheer and unprovoked violence of the act.
"Unfortunately, the displeasure and outright anger directed at officials has risen to a completely unacceptable level, which can result in an attack like the one in Cohasset. That is wrong and must be addressed."
The head of Excel High School, Jerleen John, told Boston 25 the student in question could face disciplinary action in accordance with the Boston Public Schools code of conduct.
Police said the altercation remains under investigation.
