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Kids pay for parents' fist fight at youth baseball game

The JeffCo Sports Cooperative ended the season for both teams after a fight among adults at a game in Lakewood over the weekend.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The season is over for two baseball teams of 7-year-olds after a fist fight broke out among adults during a game last weekend, according to a website post from the executive board of the Bear Creek Junior Sports Association.

The post said the JeffCo Sports Cooperative canceled the remainder of the season for Bear Creek and Denver.

Five people were cited with disorderly conduct and at least one person was seriously injured after a fight erupted at their baseball game in Lakewood on Saturday.

In a statement, the board apologized for the events and said it was "embarrassed, angry and ashamed" and has "zero tolerance for this type of behavior." The board also said that all of the Bear Creek coaches and parents identified as participating in the incident are being removed indefinitely.

The Lakewood Police Department on Tuesday tweeted video of the fight on the baseball fields at Westgate Elementary School. Officers are trying to learn more about what happened, more specifically the identity of the man wearing a white shirt and teal shorts.

“These coaches and parents, unhappy with a baseball game involving 7-year-olds and a 13-year-old umpire, took over the field and began assaulting each other,” a social media post from the department said.

9NEWS spoke to the family of the 13-year-old umpire. 9NEWS is choosing not to name the umpire and his family based on his age.

The family said the umpire gave each side a warning for using bad language. They said someone was upset the umpire didn't kick the parents out of the game altogether, which started the argument that led to the brawl.

"[The umpire] feels guilty he could not gain control of the situation and guilty that a ... coach is now in trouble for protecting him,"  a family member said in a text message to 9NEWS.

The fight was reported just before noon Saturday. Lakewood PD said the baseball game involved teams from Bear Creek and Denver.

"These parents and coaches decided to take it out on each other," said John Romero, a public information officer for the Lakewood Police Department. "It's horrible." 

"My heart is broken," said Lizmar Thurber, whose first grader played for the one of the teams. "My heart is broken for our children, both teams, that they had to experience this violence between adults."

Thurber captured the video of the fight that was later shared by police.  

"This is an opportunity to speak to parents, to speak to other leagues and say, 'Ok, look at this, what happened. Take this as an example and let this not happen again.'"

Court records show five people — Ernest Gabriel Vigil, David Anthony Williams, Darren Jearld Garduno, Manuel Miramon Garduno Jr. and Manuel Miramon Garduno — were cited with disorderly conduct following the brawl.

Police said more citations could be issued. 

"It's very sad, at the very beginning of the video, you can see kids running off the field as the adults start fighting and punching each other," Romero said. 

At this point, there are no reports of children being hurt. 

Anyone with information about the fight is asked to call Lakewood Police at 303-987-7111.

“You think it’s common sense to not do this at any sporting event, especially around kids," Romero said. "It’s a good reminder for adults: Whether you’re a parent or not, you have these children who look up to you, think before you act.”

Westgate Elementary is located at 8550 Vassar Dr. near West Yale Avenue and South Estes Street. 

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