A 42-year-old man was arrested in Quebec City for assaulting a child at the Intact Insurance Ice Center on Sunday morning.
The Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) was called to the Sainte-Foy sports complex at around 9:25 a.m. to search for an adult who allegedly physically assaulted a youth.
The victim would be an approximately 10-year-old ice hockey player who attended a game at the Robert Chevalier rink directed by the suspect in question.
According to witnesses at the scene, the referee gave the young hockey player a “deliberate” shove in the abdomen for reasons that are still unknown. However, the child was not injured.
According to an arena conditioner operator present Sunday morning, bystanders, including the victim’s parents, reacted violently when the man in the striped sweater hit the boy.
“Personally, I was more surprised than shocked,” admits the employee. The parents in the stands were really not happy. They started yelling at the referee and obviously decided to call the police.”
He argues that there was “no apparent reason for the referee to want to go after this particular youngster” and that the gesture was not intended to end a skirmish.
“The man was released a few hours later with a promise to appear,” SPVQ spokeswoman Sandra Dion said.
– With the collaboration of Vincent Desbiens