Umpire assaulted at softball tournament, left with black eye

LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) - A female umpire was assaulted at a softball tournament according to police.

The incident happened Saturday at the Sportsplex in Laurel.

According to the Laurel Police Department, an individual was removed from the fields for causing too much disruption. The department says the female suspect came back at the end of the game when she punched the umpire in the face.

Chief Tommy Cox says the suspect is 32-year-old Kiara Thomas of Hattiesburg.

Thomas allegedly left the Sportsplex after assaulting the umpire. Witnesses gave police descriptions of her vehicle and tag numbers.

Cox says an officer then located Thomas and arrested her for simple assault. He adds she was taken to the police department where she was released on bond.

Cox says there hasn’t been an incident like this in a while at the facility and wants everyone to know if they try something like this... they will pay the consequences.

“This is not the type of behavior that we accept,” Cox said. “If you act like this and you assault people, you will wind up in handcuffs just like Ms. Thomas did. We want everybody to know that it’s a safe environment... We want everybody in these tournaments to feel safe and they don’t have to be out there and have their children see this or have this type of behavior.”

He adds Thomas will be banned from all recreational facilities in the City of Laurel.

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