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High School Soccer Match Turns Into Melee

POSTED: 1:25 pm PST February 2, 2008
UPDATED: 10:47 am PST February 3, 2008

School officials are investigating a brawl among 20-50 people at a Otay Ranch High School soccer match on Friday that sent one youth to hospital and a coach to jail, it was reported Sunday.

A San Ysidro High School coach supposedly choked an Otay Ranch player, and later allegedly punched a teenager who tried to break up a fight, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

"There were people everywhere, pushing each other, and fighting and stuff," Anthony Rodriguez, co-captain of the Otay Ranch team, told the newspaper. "I'm sure some people had bumps and bruises from getting hit on the head."

Eduardo Jimenez Arenas, 39, a contract coach for San Ysidro High, was booked at the Chula Vista jail Friday on suspicion of felony assault and battery, said Chula Vista police Lt. Scott Arsenault. Bail was set at $130,000.

No video of the fight has emerged, and that makes it more difficult to investigate, said San Ysidro High School Principal Hector Espinoza.

The fight started about 4 p.m., about 10 minutes into the second half, when players on both sides began to argue on the field about a foul. Arenas, who was nearby, walked onto the field and began to choke an Otay Ranch player, police said.

"I see the coach come over and grab one of our players, and I'm thinking, 'Can he do that?''' said Rodriguez, a senior at Otay Ranch.

School officials intervened, and a referee ended the game.

As spectators began to file out of the stands, Arenas went to speak with the referee, who was talking to a parent. An argument broke out between Arenas and the parent, and a shoving match ensued, police said.

A 17-year-old former Otay Ranch student who was leaving the game tried to break up the shoving match, and Arenas punched him, knocking the teen to the ground, said Brian Lewis, head soccer coach for Otay Ranch.

Then another spectator, an unidentified man about 25 years old, stepped in and kicked the teenager in the face, police said. Lewis said he stopped the assault and the man ran off.

The fight prompted an all-out brawl as other fans converged on the field.

The bloodied teen, known as "Tito," was taken to a hospital with facial injuries and cuts and released that night in a neck brace.


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Section: Holidays