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Jun 27, 2007 12:17 am US/Central
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Man Charged With Threatening Little League Coach
St. Paul (AP) ―
A parent's alleged threat against his son's Little League baseball coach over playing time landed him in the Ramsey County Jail on Tuesday.
A police spokesman said it started Friday when the man's son struck out during a baseball game on St. Paul's East Side. The man chastised his 12-year-old and was asked to leave.
While the man, Wade Campbell, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press he apologized and left the dugout area, a police report said Campbell started yelling at the coaches and was then asked to leave by Little League officials.
Police weren't called to the scene then, but on Sunday the coach told police Campbell had threatened to shoot him. Police arrested Campbell, a 46-year-old carpenter who has three other children.
Campbell was booked into jail on Monday and formally charged Tuesday with making terroristic threats, according to court documents. He made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
Campbell told the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Monday the incident had been blown "way out of proportion." He denied threatening the coach.
"I'm just sick of this. Everybody should be playing," Campbell said during an interview in the Ramsey County jail. "His (the coach's) kids are out there, and they're playing, and they're not as good as my kid."
The coach, Noe Ambriz Jr., 30, told the newspaper he and his family were too frightened to stay in their St. Paul home on Monday. Still, he wished Campbell had not been jailed.
"I want him home with his family," Ambriz said. "I wish there was something I could say or do for him to say, 'Let's just forget about this.' It was a bad weekend for everyone."
Campbell said he called Ambriz at home Sunday with the intention of apologizing for what happened on Friday. He said he asked Ambriz why he wasn't letting Campbell's son play more.
"He said, 'Your kid hurts us,"' Campbell said. "Then I blew up at him."
Prosecutors gave a different account in charges filed Tuesday. They allege that on Sunday morning Campbell drove up behind the Ambriz residence and stopped. Ambriz and his wife said that after a short stay, Campbell drove away.
About 20 minutes later, Ambriz told prosecutors Campbell called and said he would shoot Ambriz down like a dog. The caller allegedly then said, "I'll be over in five minutes."
Ambriz said he tries to give all his players a chance to play, but he knows he can't please every parent.
"My intention was never to hurt Wade's feelings or upset him," Ambriz told the newspaper. "I apologize if that's what happened. Having that much hate is something I just don't understand, and I really feel threatened when someone says something like that to me."
According to court records, Campbell was sentenced to 20 days in the workhouse in 1991 after violating an order for protection that had been granted to a former girlfriend. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 2003.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)