By Cliff Pinckard
cleveland.com
STARKVILLE, Miss. — A deputy for a sheriff’s office in Mississippi has been fired after he became involved in a physical fight with an umpire while coaching at a teen baseball game.
The Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department announced Lt. Darrell Holley, 44, had been fired effective Monday after his arrest Sunday. The umpire also was arrested, WAPT Channel 16 reports.
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“Regardless of the circumstances, the OCSD will not tolerate this type of behavior,” Sheriff Shank Phelps said in a statement. “A baseball field is supposed to be a place of fun and family; fighting has no place there.”
Starkville city police officers were called to the baseball field Sunday when the fight occurred following a baseball game, WCBI reports. Holley and umpire Jeff Akins, 52, got into a verbal argument that escalated into a fistfight, Yahoo! Sports reports.
Other adults and children also got involved in the fight, which was captured on video, WAPT reports. Both Holley and Akins have been charged with misdemeanor fighting.
Mike Narmour, director of the baseball tournament, said everyone involved will be banned from future tournaments, The Dispatch reports.
“Grand Slam Mississippi is sickened and devastated by these types of events, and there is no place for this whatsoever in youth sports or adult sports,” Narmour said. “… There’s blame for the umpire, there’s big time blame for the coach and the (involved) kids of that team. There’s no right for that and there’s no place for that in front of those kids.”
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