Father charged, banned from ‘every ice rink in state’ after allegedly assaulting youth hockey referees

Update: The Seattle City Attorney’s office has filed misdemeanor assault charges against 42-year-old Uriel Gonzalez.

A 42-year-old father is facing fourth-degree misdemeanor assault charges after he allegedly shoved two youth hockey referees at a match Sunday in Northgate, according to a Seattle Police Department (SPD) report.

He has also been banned from “every ice rink in the state,” according to the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association.

Video from multiple angles showed the man, identified as Uriel Gonzalez, walking onto the ice rink at the Kraken Community Iceplex. He is seen approaching a pair of youth referees talking at the edge of the rink before eventually pushing them to the ground.

Fourth-degree assault could lead to up to 364 days in jail and an up to $5,000 fine, according to the City Attorney’s Office said.

Jody Carpenter, president of the youth hockey league Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association, said he wanted to move quickly on discipline against Gonzalez. He banned him from “every ice rink in the state” after conferring with league lawyers Monday, he told KIRO Newsradio.

The ban is effective pending a hearing conducted by the hockey league — and upon what happens with the criminal charges against Gonzalez, Carpenter said. The hockey league will hold its hearing containing “three disinterested people” from out of state, he added, but would not elaborate on the timing of it.

Gonzalez tells police he was defending his son from a fight where the refs did not intervene. Police say there’s no evidence of that, according to KIRO Newsradio.

Carpenter said the two referees involved in the conflict are just 13 and 14 years old. No serious injuries were reported.

“If your kid is in danger and you feel like it’s not being addressed appropriately by the referees, the correct thing to do is not to go out there and then attack the referees. That’s ridiculous,” Jake Skorheim, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said. “Go have a conversation with them. If you really feel like it’s dire if your kids are actually in danger, go talk to the coach first before you go do something like that. I can never imagine going out there and doing something as crazy as this.”

What do police say happened?

A preliminary police report from SPD showed officers responded to the rink at approximately 11:53 a.m. Sunday, finding and stopping the man driving away in his SUV with his wife and son. He told officers he intervened to defend his son, who’d been involved in a fight with an opposing player, and that the referees “did nothing to stop the assault.”

Police dismissed his explanation, writing “There is no evidence that supports (the suspect’s) claim that he acted in defense of his son at the time of the assault.”

The man’s “assault on two juveniles was clearly unprovoked and the conduct was especially egregious due to the size and age difference between the victims and the suspect,” the unnamed officer wrote in the report.

“We talk about how much kids learn from sports, right? How much can team sports teach a kid,” Spike O’Neill, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show,” added. “Those kids learned from that dad the wrong way to be a parent. I mean, that’s the lesson from this altercation. Sports teaches lessons.”

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On Monday morning, Carpenter told KIRO Newsradio he was exploring options to hold the man accountable and would be discussing it with league legal teams “to figure out how far I can press my authority,” he said.

“I want to figure out how far I can press mine,” Carpenter added.

In a post to the league’s Facebook page, he called the father’s actions “completely unacceptable.”

Sunday’s incident represents what youth sports officials believe is a rise in violent behavior from the parents of child athletes.

“Now, it seems like, whenever something inappropriate or the parent doesn’t agree with the activity that’s going on on the ice with their kid, they want to take charge and get involved,” Carpenter said. “I just want to send the message out to parents: Let the game play. Nothing bad is really going to ultimately happen to your kid. Even if something bad (is) on the ice, adversity happens – it’s probably going to be really good for your kid, long-term development-wise.”

Separate attack in Gig Harbor amid hockey incident

Specific data on adult violence at child sporting events in Washington was not immediately available, but The Tacoma News Tribune reported another incident in Gig Harbor last week. A woman allegedly attacked another woman and accused her of meddling in coaching matters in the Gig Harbor High School girls’ basketball team.

The alleged assault happened immediately after the team’s match on Tuesday night.

“That led to what was reported to be an assault,” Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey said. “There was like a shoulder-checking from one to the other, and then later, when the two confronted each other in a bathroom, one of the individuals pushed the head of the other into a wall.”

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According to the report, it may be related to the Peninsula School District’s January decision to place three coaches from the team on administrative leave for the rest of the season. It’s not clear why those coaches were placed on leave.

Busey told KIRO Newsradio the investigation is still very early and that officers had yet to review the video and interview the suspected assailant.

Contributing: Sam Campbell, KIRO Newsradio

Listen to “Jake and Spike” weekdays from noon-3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here. 

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