Dad punches, knocks out umpire during high school baseball game, Florida sheriff says

A player’s father punched and knocked out an umpire during a high school baseball game, a Florida sheriff said.

The attack occurred during a game at Liberty High School in Kissimmee on April 18, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said during a news conference.

During the game, players began to argue with the umpire, who was trying to keep the game under control, he said.

At one point, one of the player’s fathers left the stands, walked toward the umpire “and just knocks him out,” Lopez said.

Video shows the father swinging his arm and striking the umpire in the head, causing him to fall to the ground.

“This umpire is a 63-year-old man, ... a United States military veteran, he’s a disabled veteran,” Lopez said. “He does this because he has passion for baseball, and he likes to give back to his community, and he loves to dedicate his time to baseball and to kids.”

“He’s a good man,” Lopez said.

Lopez said the father said he hit the umpire because he was “defending his kid,” but the sheriff condemned the action.

“There should be no parent acting like this in public,” he said.

The father, who is 41, was arrested on May 3 and charged with battery on a sports official and disruption at an educational institution, according to Osceola County jail records.

Liberty High School was playing Victory Charter School and won 10-9.

Kissimmee is 20 miles south of Orlando. Liberty High School serves grades 9-12 and enrolls 1,833 students, according to U.S. News & World Report.

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