CHARLESTON : Teen referee assaulted; man, 33, pleads innocent
Posted on Thursday, March 6, 2008
CHARLESTON — A Charleston-area man faces a May trial in connection with an assault on the referee of a girls basketball game Monday evening.
James Allen Moseley, 33, pleaded innocent Wednesday in District Court in Charleston to charges of third-degree battery and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. His trial was set for May 15, Charleston police Sgt. Scott McKenna said.
Moseley was in the crowd during a third- and fourth-grade girls basketball game at the Charleston school gymnasium, McKenna said. Several people in the stands began heckling the referee, 18-year-old Seth Christenberry of Charleston.
Christenberry told one of the louder hecklers to quiet down, witnesses told police. Moseley yelled back that they could make as much noise as they wanted, McKenna said.
When Christenberry asked Moseley to leave, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound man left the stands and punched Christenberry in the face, McKenna said.
Christenberry and Moseley began wrestling, and other spectators ran out of the stands to separate the two.
Christenberry, who is about 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, required six stitches to close a cut on his face, McKenna said.
Moseley left the gymnasium, leaving his daughter behind, and drove away. Witnesses gave police a description and license number of Moseley’s car, McKenna said.
A warrant was issued Tuesday, and Moseley was arrested at his home.
Moseley was held without bond in the Franklin County jail until his appearance before District Judge Paul Efurd on Wednesday.
Efurd ordered Moseley released on the condition he have no contact with Christenberry and not attend any sporting events.
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