Ref ’s call sparks parents’ brawl at school basketball game

A referee’s call during a girl’s basketball game at Hagerty High School in Oviedo on Friday led to an all-out brawl between two parents, according to the Seminole County Sheriff ’s Office.

James Osgood Ackermann, 52, was watching his daughter play against Lake Mary High School when he saw a referee make a call he didn’t like, so he “made a comment about it,” sheriff ’s report.

A father of a girl playing on Lake Mary’s team was sitting next to him and overheard.

The father, whose identity was redacted from the report, told Ackermann to “shut up,” the report states.

Witnesses said Ackermann called the father an “idiot” and the father dared Ackermann to “call him an idiot again,” according to the report. according to a

Ackermann took the challenge and called the man an idiot for a second time, and the two started wrestling in the gym of the Lockwood Boulevard school.

That’s when Ackermann claims the man punched him in the face, the report states.

The men continued to fight until someone in the stands pulled them apart, deputies said.

The Sheriff’s Office later located the parent accused of punching Ackermann and questioned him. Details of what he said were redacted from the report, but deputies say the incident is a “he-said, she-said” situation.

There is video of the incident that is being used as evidence. The contents were redacted.

No arrests have been made. The Sheriff’s Office has sent the reports and video to the State Attorney’s Office for a decision on whether charges will be filed.