Man Accused of Hitting 16-Year-Old Umpire Will Surrender to D.A.

A Garden Grove man accused of misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from a dispute with a Little League umpire has agreed to surrender to the district attorney’s office today after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday.

But Robert E. Foster, 40, says the three charges of assault and battery and disturbing the peace filed by the district attorney are “a total frame-up.”

“I was really astounded, and I could not believe that they had enough nerve to take this any further,” Foster said.

The case grew out of a report to police by a 16-year-old umpire, C. J. Ellson, who said Foster came onto the field during a Seaview Little League game at Edison High School in Huntington Beach on June 15 and slugged him several times before spectators could intervene.

Foster’s 15-year-old son, Bobby, is a member of the A’s, one of the teams that competed in the Father’s Day game. Ellson said Foster and his wife, Diane, grew verbally abusive after Ellson made two calls that were unfavorable to the A’s.

The umpire said he twice asked the Fosters to quiet down before Foster allegedly charged onto the field in the fifth inning and hit him about four times. Ellson, who had one arm in a cast due to a previous accident, said his chest was bruised by the blows and that only his umpire’s protective gear spared him from more serious injury.

Foster, however, contends that he only went onto the field after being challenged to a fight by Ellson, who has worked as an umpire for three years and is the son of Kenneth Ellson, umpire-in-chief of the Seaview Little League.

“(Ellson) said, ‘If you think you can do a better job, why aren’t you an umpire?’ ” Foster said. “I said, ‘I’m not the one who gets paid for umpiring’ . . . and he said ‘If you don’t like it, come on,’ and motioned to me like he wanted to fight me. I walked around the fence and through the gate (to the field).”

Foster, more than 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, denied hitting the 5-foot, 9-inch youth. He said he only raised his left hand to protect himself when Ellson “came at me . . . swinging his cast around.”

‘Didn’t Hit Him

“I didn’t hit him, as clear as my name is Robert E. Foster. I never even raised the right hand and I’m right-handed,” he said.

However, one parent of an A’s player who asked not to be identified said at least four A’s parents saw Foster strike the umpire.

“We feel bad the whole thing ever happened,” the parent said. “You just don’t do something like that in front of a bunch of kids. I didn’t like my own son exposed to that.”

Ellson’s mother, Virginia, said, “I’d like to see my son get vindicated. I don’t like to see him put in the position of being the aggressor when I don’t believe that was the case. That certainly isn’t what the people who were there said happened.”

Foster said he believes Ellson and league officials have “made a mountain out of a mole hill.” He also said league officials, including Bruce Weaver, league president, “told a whole bunch of lies” in subsequently attempting to bar him from attending his son’s final three games of the season.

“They’re trying to make C. J. (Ellson) out to be a nice kid who has never had a problem before,” Foster said. “All he really is is a troublemaker and they should never have had him out there umpiring.”

Agreement Made

A Superior Court Commissioner Monday encouraged league officials to accept a compromise that would permit Foster to attend the remainder of the games, as long as he abided by a code of good conduct. The agreement was made, and Foster attended the Monday game.

But after the game, he said, Ellson and two other men followed him and his son out of the parking lot. He added that the vehicle carrying Ellson followed them halfway to their Garden Grove residence and that at one point, Ellson and the others pulled alongside, allegedly yelling obscenities and making obscene gestures.

“My son said, ‘Yes, Dad, it’s them. Roll your window up and lock your door,’ ” Foster said. “It was very frightening. My son was very scared. We didn’t know what to do.” Foster said he reported the incident to police.

Ellson said he did tail the Fosters for about two miles after the game but denied yelling obscenities or harassing them.

“I didn’t yell anything,” Ellson said. “It was just a spur of the moment thing, a dumb idea. After a while, my friends talked me out of it (a confrontation).

‘Never Would Have Done That

“I was mad because he got to go back to his son’s games because he did something at court. If I had known the district attorney was (still intending to file a complaint) against Foster, I never would have done that.”

Foster said negative publicity has almost caused him to lose his job as a salesman for an Anaheim cabinet company, cost him $3,000 in attorney’s fees and $3,000 in lost business and caused his wife emotional trauma.

“My wife probably wouldn’t even be able to talk about this,” Foster said. “She hasn’t been able to function at work, and all she does is cry every day. None of us have been sleeping.”

He also said he now regrets ever setting foot on the field two Sundays ago.

“I wouldn’t do that again for all the money in the world,” Foster said.