A football player on the Mount San Antonio College team has been arrested after allegedly punching a referee in the middle of a game against Ventura College on Saturday.
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Mt. SAC offensive lineman Bernard Schirmer was arrested following the game and taken to jail, the Ventura County star reported.
Mount San Antonio College freshman Bernard Schirmer was ejected from the game Saturday and later arrested on suspicion of battery.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to charge Schirmer.
“I didn’t even know I hit him”, Schirmer said.
All was good and well until Schirmer clocked the ref in the head. “When he fell down, I thought somebody else hit him”.
“The ref just got punched in the face by a player”, the broadcaster said.
Schirmer was released on bail Sunday, and now claims the whole thing was an accident.
Yokoyama says the college examined enlarged, frame-by-frame video of the incident and concluded that Schirmer’s arm accidentally struck the official. However, the AP reports that the school views the punch as accidental and the ruling will be appealed.
Schirmer’s father, Craig Schirmer, said his son would maintain his innocence if the case proceeds in court and that video shows his son making contact with the referee only after first hitting himself in the helmet.
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College officials and police said Saturday that the referee wasn’t interested in pressing charges. Because the event became a police matter, video review was used in the process for something other than football.
