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Player's Dad Charged With Attacking Ref

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The father of a Catholic school soccer player was arrested after he attacked a referee after a game Friday evening, police and witnesses say.

Robert James Ycaza, a 46-year-old anesthesiologist who lives at 1100 Tortuga Circle N.E., St. Petersburg, was charged with battery on a specified official, a felony, according to Pinellas County Jail records.

On Friday evening, Ycaza's son was playing for Holy Family Catholic School in a soccer match against Blessed Sacrament School, witnesses say. The players were of middle-school age, and the game took place on one of the fields at the Walter Fuller Recreation Center in St. Petersburg.

Jerry Ostow, who was watching the game, said Ycaza's son had his hands on the other players and was "checking them," neither of which is acceptable in soccer. When referee Michael Germino, 41, called the boy on his actions, the boy then mouthed off to Germino, at which point Germino gave the boy a yellow card, which is a type of warning, Ostow said.

Ostow said that's when Ycaza started yelling at Germino, saying something to the effect that Germino was singling out the boy. Ycaza would not stop screaming at Germino when he was asked to, so Germino told him to leave or Holy Family would forfeit the game, witnesses said.

"The parents said, 'Doc, you need to get out of here,'" said Brett Yeates, whose 13-year-old son was playing for Blessed Sacrament.

Ycaza left the field but continued watching the match from behind a fence, witnesses said. When it was over, as Germino was getting together his duffel bag and paperwork, Ycaza ran onto the field and attacked the referee, witnesses said.

Ycaza punched Germino while holding something in his hand, causing a small abrasion on Germino's wrist, said St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa. Ycaza also started kicking Germino, and Germino was backing away from him when parents rushed in and separated the two, Kajtsa said.

"He physically assaulted the referee in front of all those kids," Ostow said.

Yeates was one of the parents who separated the two. He said he told Ycaza he should stay because he had just assaulted a referee, but Ycaza got in his Audi convertible and took off. Yeates had gotten Ycaza's license plate number, and authorities were called.

It took St. Petersburg police more than 90 minutes to respond, witnesses said. Ycaza was booked into Pinellas County Jail just after midnight Saturday and was released a couple of hours later, jail records show.

When reached at home Monday, Ycaza declined to comment.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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