Attacked After Game : Hurt Umpire Wins $2,800 Call in Court

A Sun Valley man was ordered by a judge Monday to pay more than $2,800 to an umpire he allegedly attacked during a brawl over a disputed call in an amateur baseball game.

But the man, William M. Laufman, thought the amount was too high, said Dennis Ryan, an attorney for Laufman. Ryan said Laufman might withdraw a guilty plea he entered earlier to a charge of disturbing the peace.

Ryan said Laufman may opt to go to trial rather than accept the order by San Fernando Municipal Court Judge Michael S. Luros to pay James H. Ellis $856 in medical expenses and $1,950 for lost wages.

Police said Ellis, 43, wound up in a brawl with Laufman, 54, Laufman’s wife and their three grown sons after Ellis ordered the forfeiture of a California Baseball Assn. game in Hansen Dam Park on March 17.

Ellis threw Laufman’s 19-year-old son, Robert, out of the game after the younger Laufman yelled obscenities at another umpire who had made a call against him, Ellis told police. When Robert Laufman then threw his mitt in Ellis’ face, Ellis halted the game and awarded a victory to the opposing team, according to the police report.

As Ellis left the field, Laufman’s wife, Joyce, 47, blocked his path and began swearing at him, the report said. When Ellis tried to walk around her, she slapped him in the face, witnesses said. When Ellis slapped her back, both Laufmans and their sons attacked Ellis, according to the police report.

Ellis said the brawl, which left him with a cut above the right eye, bruises, and strains in his back, caused him to miss seven days of work at $31 an hour. He is a fire-sprinkler installer.

“I’ve never seen this sort of thing before,” Ellis said after the hearing Monday. He said he has been an amateur baseball umpire for nine years and officiates at an average of four games a week.

Misdemeanor battery charges were filed against all five Laufmans, but the city attorney later dropped all charges except a count of disturbing the peace against William Laufman, who pleaded guilty and was given three years’ probation.

“He lost his job over this thing and he’s getting all the blame when there are witnesses who say that Ellis hit his wife first,” Ryan said.

The judge gave Laufman until this afternoon to decide whether to withdraw the guilty plea but warned that, if Laufman withdraws the plead, the charges against his wife and sons and a battery charge against Laufman will be reinstated.