VIRGINIA BEACH
Near the end of a sand soccer game at the Oceanfront last Saturday, two boys on opposing teams began aggressively pursuing the ball.
After it went out of bounds, a brawl broke out between the two.
What happened next stunned onlookers, and left some of the players who witnessed it feeling fearful and traumatized. It also led to a hospital visit and stitches for one of the teens, and caused police to arrest the father of the other player.
Jordan Lee Grinnell, 38, of Virginia Beach, was charged with misdemeanor assault, police said. He was released on bond afterward.
The incident happened at the North American Sand Soccer Championship, an annual event held last weekend at the Oceanfront. More than 10,000 players, age 8 and up, participated this year, said Lauren Bland, executive director of Hampton Roads Soccer Council.
Witnesses said they saw Grinnell knock a boy to the ground and punch him in the face.
Timothy Vickerie, 14, of Chester, received four stitches above his right eye and suffered a mild concussion and bloody lip, according to his mother, Nicole Vickerie. When the eighth grader returned to the tournament the next day to cheer on his teammates, his eye was swollen shut and bruised.
“I still can’t get it out of my mind,” said Jennifer Moss, who was standing just feet away. “I didn’t sleep for two days and I’m still having trouble sleeping. The kids who witnessed it are all shaken.”
Moss, the mother of a player on Vickerie’s team, had just walked to the field to give her son a water bottle when she saw the two players running down the field. Vickerie’s team was leading 5-4 at the time and the game was nearing the end of the final period.
“They started pushing each other to try to get to the ball,” she said. The boys appeared to be “taking it to the next level” – shoving, elbowing and grabbing shirts – when Moss saw a man come charging over from the sidelines.
“I’m thinking he’s coming over to break the boys up,” Moss said. Instead, the man knocked one of them down, jumped on him and began punching him in the face.
“I saw him strike him at least twice,” Moss said. The man was shirtless at the time so she reached for his necklace to try to pull him off and ended up breaking it.
Vickerie’s coach, a periodontist from Chesterfield County who asked not to be named, said he ran over and tackled the man. Several other men then rushed over and pulled him away.
Nicole Vickerie said she and her husband, Tim, were watching from the Boardwalk when they saw Grinnell charge toward their son. The family is from the Richmond area and were in town for the tournament.
Nicole Vickerie said it appeared her son was about to grab the other boy’s shirt when Grinnell ran over and punched him, knocking him off his feet.
“It was breathtaking to see that and surreal. It still is,” Nicole Vickerie said. “By the time we got there, people had pulled him off and took him away.”
Moss called police and confronted Grinnell afterward.
“I yelled at him, ‘You just beat up a 14-year-old kid,'” Moss said. “He said, ‘That’s my son.’ And I said, ‘They were fighting over a ball. That’s what soccer’s about.'”
Nicole Vickerie said she also confronted Grinnell. “I asked him did he feel better now. ‘Does that make you feel like a big man?'” she said. “He said, ‘No, it doesn’t. I’m sorry.'”
Grinnell could not be reached for comment. A police report had yet to be filed as of Friday afternoon but a spokeswoman confirmed the charges.
Prosecutors reviewed the case Friday and decided not to get involved at this time, said Macie Allen, a spokeswoman for the commonwealth’s attorney. But they may change their minds once police turn in their completed investigation, she said.
Bland said the soccer council was aware of the incident and plans to cooperate with police if asked. The safety of the players is a serious concern for tournament officials, said Bland, who released a statement.
“We take very seriously any acts of violence and condemn any bystander from entering the field of play,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to the victim in this unfortunate incident, and we want to assure everyone that we will redouble our efforts to make the 2019 tournament and all future ones even more safe and secure.”
Nicole Vickerie said her family has received support from their local soccer community and from many in Virginia Beach.
She also said that while her son was shaken by the incident, he plans to continue playing soccer.
“He’s not going to let this deter him,” she said.