Can a referee be charged with assault for using excessive force to defend himself?

[Poptort]

Does anyone know of a particular case in which a referee was charged with assault for using excessive force to defend himself in a brawl with a fan? Working on a case where a fan attacked a referee and the referee knocked him unconscious and then proceeded to dislocate the fan's arm with an arm bar while the fan was unconscious. Does anyone know of a case where a referee was charged with assault? Thanks!

 

[quincy]

Does anyone know of a particular case in which a referee was charged with assault for using excessive force to defend himself in a brawl with a fan? Working on a case where a fan attacked a referee and the referee knocked him unconscious and then proceeded to dislocate the fan's arm with an arm bar while the fan was unconscious. Does anyone know of a case where a referee was charged with assault? Thanks!

What is the name of your state Poptort, and what is the name of the state where the incident you mention occurred?

What do you mean by "working on a case?"

From what you describe, both the referee and the fan could potentially be charged with a crime.

I know of no case offhand where the referee was charged after a "fan brawl" but there are numerous cases where fans have assaulted sports officials and been arrested and charged. In fact, there has been an increase in fan assaults of sports officials in the past couple of years, with one official dying as a result of an on-field attack.

It would be interesting to see if these attacks occur primarily at stadiums/fields where alcohol is allowed and/or for sale.


edit to add: Never mind about your state name. I see from your other thread that you are in Florida. Here is a link to your thread on "defective safety netting" at a football game, a game where your wife was injured due to a drunken fan falling on top of her: https://forum.freeadvice.com/danger...fective-safety-netting-injury-fan-628518.html

 

[Silverplum]

And he didn't even say 'Thank you' there, despite your kind efforts to explain.

And I wonder which "fan" attacked the referee and why?

 

[Zigner]

I'm going to say that yes, it's absolutely possible for a ref to be charged if s/he used excessive force. Determining whether or not the force was excessive is going to be the tough part

 

[quincy]

And he didn't even say 'Thank you' there, despite your kind efforts to explain. ...

Hey, you're right. The nerve of the guy.