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Off-duty cop, other dad spar at soccer game
Charge of disorderly conduct recommended for both men
By JACQUI SEIBEL
jseibel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 18, 2008
Waukesha - An off-duty Waukesha police officer and another Waukesha man got into an altercation this month at their daughters' soccer game, forcing the referees to stop the game and other parents to call 911 for crowd control, according to a Sheriff's Department report.
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Audio: 911 call regarding a soccer parent altercationBoth men have been referred to the Waukesha County district attorney for a possible charge of disorderly conduct.
The 20-year veteran police officer remains on the job. Police spokesman Capt. Mark Stigler did not return calls seeking comment.
The Journal Sentinel is not naming either of the men, both 47, because no decision has been made on charges against them.
District Attorney Brad Schimel was not available for comment Wednesday.
The sheriff's report describes a scene of adult bickering and name-calling escalating to more heated exchanges.
The report says deputies were called to Sunset Park in Genesee about 6 p.m. June 4 for a fight between parents at a soccer game pitting 9- and 10-year-old girls from Pewaukee and Genesee.
In a recording of the 911 call, a man tells the dispatcher to send officers for crowd control because two men are "acting like children."
According to the report, the off-duty officer was heard yelling to his daughter on the field to "get in front of her and slap her if you need to. Just slap her." That prompted another parent to call out to him that his instructions weren't appropriate.
The off-duty officer responded that if the parent has a problem with him, she should come and say it to his face. When she did, the report says, he stepped toward her and said, "You're wrong," and she went back to her seat.
The officer's wife then arrived at the park, and he told her that he just got into it with a woman on the sidelines. When she asked who it was, he said the fat lady, the report says.
The Waukesha man, who overheard the fat lady comment, called the officer a vulgar name and told him to pick on someone else, the report says.
When the off-duty officer approached him to ask if there were a problem, the two ended up chest-to-chest, verbally sparring, the report says, with the Waukesha man's elbow hitting the off-duty officer in the face. The off-duty officer told deputies he had swelling around his eye.
The Waukesha man told deputies he raised his elbow to block a punch he thought the off-duty officer was going to throw, the report says.
Game stopped
At this point, referees stopped the soccer game and told the men to leave the park or the game would end. The wife of the Waukesha man grabbed his arm, and the couple walked to the parking lot.
Witnesses said they heard the off-duty officer say to the Waukesha man, "Let's go finish this."
The officer, witnesses said, followed the couple to their car and then got in front of their vehicle, refusing to let them leave, the report says.
He moved to the side of the car and then fell to the ground as the Waukesha man drove away. The off-duty officer said the man ran over his foot, the report says.
One witness said the fall was fake and that the officer wasn't struck by the car, the report says.
The officer told deputies that he followed the man because he didn't want him to leave because deputies had been called, the report says.
The Waukesha man told police that he was trying to walk away to defuse the situation when he was walking to his car, the report says.
(Note: Waukesha and Genessee are located about 25 miles west of Milwaukee.)
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