Man Arrested in Melee at Youth Football Game

One man was arrested late Saturday after parents and players joined in a brawl following a youth football game.

Ricky Lozano, 18, of Visalia was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly bashing a 15-year-old with a helmet, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Lynn Nehring said. Lozano was not a player, Nehring said.

“He took a helmet and hit the guy over the head,” Nehring said.

The melee began at the end of the Junior All American All Star game, made up of teams from Orange and Los Angeles counties. The players, ranging in age from 12 through 15, began fighting after the winning team started celebrating and taunting the other team.

Then 100 to 150 parents rushed in, Nehring said.

When the fight broke out, someone in the stands called for help on a cellular phone. More than a dozen deputies, assisted by a helicopter, broke up the fight.

The game took place at Aliso Niguel High School stadium, which the teams had borrowed for the night. Denise Danne, principal at Aliso Niguel, said the school sometimes allows youth organizations to use the stadium.

Danne said the brawlers did a good deal of damage to the field and turf. “Our field is trashed,” Danne said. None of the teams could be reached for comment Sunday.

Bruce Miller, whose son played in an earlier game at Aliso Niguel but did not stay for the one that turned into a brawl, said fighting has been a problem with some teams this year. Miller said teams from Orange County had refused to play in Long Beach earlier this season because of belligerent players and parents.

“For some reason, this year it seemed to get it out of control,” Miller said. “This is more than just a game for a lot of kids.”

Tony Chargulaf, president of the Fountain Valley Junior All Americans and current president of the program’s executive council, said the melee was the worst he has seen this year. He said there had been four other incidents that involved fighting since August.

“This was the most scariest thing I have ever seen,” said Chargulaf, who said he was on the field when the fighting started. “It was a true riot.”

Chargulaf said he does not know what is causing some of the fights. He said the melee will not mean the death of the program, which now includes about 162 teams in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

He said the program may have to break up into two groups, one for each county. “This will take us to the next step in sophistication,” he said.

Chargulaf said there may be some problems with the training of coaches and their understanding of their responsibilities when coaching youths. And he said parents need to understand that the games are for the children.