Man who punched wrestling official at PV to plead guilty
David Coleman
A man accused of punching a referee at his son’s wrestling match is set to plead guilty.
David Coleman, 37, of Mountville, Lancaster County, appeared before a magisterial district judge in Lansford Wednesday on charges for the incident which occurred on Jan. 5 during a tournament at Panther Valley Intermediate School.
His attorney said that Coleman plans to plead guilty to one count of assault on an official, a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors have agreed to drop the other charges that were pending against Coleman, including simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
With no prior record, it is expected he will receive a probationary sentence. The conditions of the agreement include Coleman seeking anger management and a one-year ban from PIAA sporting events.
Summit Hill Police, whose jurisdiction includes the school, said Coleman hit a PIAA official twice while the official was refereeing a match involving Coleman’s son.
Coleman walked onto the mat during the match and told the referee “you need to be in position.” The referee told Coleman to leave the mat, but he responded by striking him twice with a closed fist — in the chest and jaw.
Coleman told police that during the match, he became concerned the other wrestler had his son’s arm in a position where it could be broken. He allegedly went to the mat to tell the official, “You need to be in position.”
Coleman’s attorney, Matthew Rapa, said Coleman took responsibility for his actions by appearing in court Wednesday and agreeing to the guilty plea.
Prosecutor Cynthia Hatton said the referee wanted to see Coleman take responsibility, and was in favor of dropping the charges in exchange for Coleman’s guilty plea.
Hatton said that even without the assault, it is a bad idea for a parent to enter the playing field during a child’s game or match to disagree with the officials.
“It doesn’t set a good example for your child, let alone all the other kids that are in attendance at the game,” she said.
Coleman is expected to enter his guilty plea in county court on Feb. 11.
Comments
They can't compete in the real world so they force their children into pseudo pornographic sports like boys wrestling. Conservative Sanduskyism , no one is safe from the Trump sicko onslaught.