DA files criminal charge against dad who tackled youth soccer ref in California
By CBS13 Staff
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ROSEVILLE, California (KOVR) — The district attorney’s office has now filed a criminal charge against a parent caught on video attacking a referee during an under-16 boys soccer game in Roseville.
Video shows the soccer dad – now identified as by the Placer County District Attorney’s Office as 34-year-old Sacramento resident Vicente Robles – running across the field and blindsiding a referee. Robles is then seen standing over the ref, shouting at him.
Andrew Reali, the referee who got tackled by the dad, talked to CBS13 and said it was like he got hit by a train.
“This was easily the hardest hit I’ve ever taken in my life,” Reali said.
It appears the attack, which happened on Nov. 17, stemmed from a call that happened before the video was taken. Reali reportedly made some sort of call against Robles son, prompting the boy to follow the referee off the field. Reali pushed the teen to back him away – which is when the boy’s father came running across the field.
Robles is now facing a misdemeanor charge of battery committed against a sports official. His arraignment date is set for Dec. 8.
NorCal Premier Soccer suspended the coach of the Robles’ son’s team and a disciplinary committee has recommended the team be expelled from competitions until next year.
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