(UPDATE: Sept. 10 @ 10 am) - A second man has been charged in connection to a physical altercation at a youth hockey tournament in Lethbridge, Alta.
According to police, the 36-year-old man they had been looking for turned himself in Sunday night, hours after the brawl at the Quest for the Cup tournament.
Todd William Cross Child of Lethbridge is now facing two counts of assault and has been released on a promise to appear in court on Oct. 9.
A second man has now been charged in connection with an incident where a referee and coach were assaulted over the weekend during a youth hockey tournament. #yql https://t.co/rN6sFNVwmU
— Lethbridge Police (@lethpolice) September 10, 2019
Police have previously said that a verbal spat between a player and referee escalated into the young player striking the official twice with his stick.
The ref responded by pushing the player to the ice, at which point a group of coaches and fans walked onto the ice and the brawl began.
A short video of the altercation has since gone viral.
Robert Farrell Creighton, 55, of Standoff, Alta. had previously been arrested and charged with assault in connection to the incident.
This just happened in #Lethbridge tonight. From what I’ve been told it was a 10 year old 3 on 3 tournament where a player slashed a ref. My source tells me the ref responded in a physical way (some are saying self defence) & this happened. Reaching out to organizer for more info pic.twitter.com/mlsZs8nNuE
— Dean Millard (@DuckMillard) September 9, 2019
(Original story: Sept. 9 @ 9:45 am) - A youth hockey tournament in Lethbridge took a negative turn on Sunday.
Police were called to the Crossings Ice Centre around 2 pm for reports of an assault that involved a referee, coach and multiple fans.
A police release says that a 10-year-old player was involved in a verbal altercation with the ref at the end of the game, which escalated into the boy hitting the ref twice with his stick.
The ref pushed the player to the ice, which led to a group of adults, including a coach and a relative of the player, coming onto the ice.
It’s alleged that a coach from the opposing team was shoved to the ground before the ref was punched multiple times by the player’s relative and a second man.
Video on the incident posted to Twitter shows a brief snippet of the altercation.
This just happened in #Lethbridge tonight. From what I’ve been told it was a 10 year old 3 on 3 tournament where a player slashed a ref. My source tells me the ref responded in a physical way (some are saying self defence) & this happened. Reaching out to organizer for more info pic.twitter.com/mlsZs8nNuE
— Dean Millard (@DuckMillard) September 9, 2019
“The relative was subsequently arrested without incident but the second male left the arena and police are attempting to locate him,” says the police release.
Robert Farrell Creighton, 55, was charged with one count of assault, while charges are pending against the 36-year-old second man.
The tournament organizer, High Level Hockey, put out a statement saying the incident "should serve as an example to all about the importance of ensuring the rink is a safe place for our children.
HLH is fully cooperating with Lethbridge Police Services as the incident continues to be investigated.
