A Seattle man has been charged with assault after police say he pushed two teenage referees to the ice during a youth hockey game at the Kraken Community Iceplex on Sunday.
According to a Seattle Police Department report, officers responded around 11:50 a.m. to a report of an assault at the iceplex, located at 10651 5th Avenue Northeast.
The caller reported that an angry parent had pushed a 16-year-old referee. Police arrived minutes later and stopped a vehicle matching the suspect’s description as it was leaving the area.
The driver, identified as Uriel Isaac Cortes Gonzalez, 40, told officers he had been watching his son’s hockey game when he saw his son get into a fight with another player. He said his son was punched and kicked for about 30 seconds while referees failed to intervene, prompting him to step onto the ice to break up the fight. He admitted to pushing a referee but claimed he was defending his child.
However, police reviewed surveillance footage of the incident, which showed a man matching Cortes Gonzalez’s description entering the ice from the officials’ box during a stoppage in play.
The video allegedly shows him walking up to a referee and forcefully shoving him to the ice before pushing another official. Witnesses described the attack as unprovoked.
One of the referees told police he heard someone shout, “Get the [expletive] off my kid!” before being shoved hard enough to knock him off his skates and onto his back. The second referee said he was pushed into the rink’s boards, injuring his elbow.
Seattle Fire Department medics evaluated both teens for minor injuries.
Witnesses, including rink officials and spectators, told officers they saw Cortes Gonzalez aggressively confront the referees. One witness, who was working in the officials’ box, said she saw him push both referees, knocking them to the ice.
Another witness said the suspect “marched out” onto the ice and forcefully shoved one of the referees while he was speaking with game administrators.
Police interviewed Cortes Gonzalez’s wife and their son, who confirmed there had been a fight on the ice but said they did not witness the alleged assault.
She said her husband “went crazy” during the game and rushed her and their son out of the iceplex before it ended. Their son said it was “not normal” for parents to enter the ice during a game.
Cortes Gonzalez was charged in the municipal court of Seattle on Tuesday with two counts of assault.