Ohio man assaults umpire after dispute at grownup softball recreation: video

An Ohio man has been charged with assault after he was caught on video socking an umpire within the face at an adult-league softball recreation final week, officers introduced.

Earlier than the beginning of a recreation at Columbus’ Berliner Park Tuesday night time, participant Gregory Roudabush obtained right into a verbal dispute with umpire Wiley Butler, footage obtained by WCMH shows.

Roudabush, sporting a vibrant yellow jersey, approaches the Butler — who’s already standing behind the plate for the sport — and punches the umpire arduous within the face, video reveals.

He then slams Butler to the bottom on high of dwelling plate earlier than different gamers rush over and pull him off.

Columbus Metropolis Lawyer Zach Klein introduced on Tuesday that Roudabush was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor assault and a fourth-degree disorderly conduct following an investigation by town’s Recreation and Parks division.

He’s additionally banned from collaborating in future leagues.

Butler instructed WCMH that he had requested Roudabush to maneuver over a bit, and gave him a proof as to why. When Roudabush turned verbally abusive, Butler ejected him from the sport — which is when the punch was thrown.

“I used to be surprised greater than something,” Butler stated. “I feel I sort of went into shock, in a way, as a result of I couldn’t consider I obtained punched on the softball discipline. I actually simply couldn’t consider it.”

A parks division spokesperson instructed the outlet that “it doesn’t matter what the disagreement was, we don’t anticipate our workers officers and gamers to resort to the sort of violence.”