By Tim Petruk, Kamloops This Week
Police say they are going to recommend criminal charges against a Kamloops hockey father alleged to have verbally attacked a referee following a junior A game in Penticton.
Penticton RCMP Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said the incident took place at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Friday, Feb. 20, following a B.C. Hockey League game between the Merritt Centennials and the Penticton Vees.
In the parking lot, Dellebuur said, the father of one of the Merritt players approached one of the referees as he was walking to his vehicle.
“It was a player on the Merritt team, but the father is from Kamloops,” Dellebuur said.
“There was some screaming and some threats made. It would have got physical if the son hadn’t held his father back.”
Dellebuur said the 52-year-old suspect also punched the referee’s vehicle as he drove away.
“The investigation is in its early stages,” he said.
“A report to Crown counsel will be submitted, recommending charges for uttering threats.”
Luke Pierce, head coach of the Merritt Centennials, wouldn’t say much about the allegations.
“It’s got nothing to do with the team,” he said.
“We’re not involved in it in any way, so we’re not going to comment on it.”
Derek Adams, the BCHL’s director of officiating, took a similar position.
“We would rather not comment on it,” he said.
“It’s a police investigation and we don’t want to compromise that.”
Dellebuur said the allegations are not something investigators often deal with, but they come at a time when hockey parents have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Last month, minor-hockey officials on Vancouver Island asked parents to tone down their aggression, noting their actions caused some teenaged referees to quit.
Eight parents were later banned from attending their kids’ games.
Earlier in January, a North Vancouver hockey dad was handed a conditional discharge for threatening a nine-year-old player on his son’s team.
The police investigation into the alleged incident in Penticton is ongoing.
