City of Mountain Home cancels U12 co-ed soccer season after fight between adults, arrests

wireready_10-23-2024-10-28-17_00009_keithoconnorhannahhart

The Mountain Home Parks and Recreation Department has cancelled the remainder of the U12 co-ed soccer league following a fight after a game recently. The fight between a fan and an assistant coach led to two arrests after Mountain Home Police were called to the soccer complex on Arkansas State Highway 5 South twice Oct. 8.

According to the incident report, an officer was dispatched to the fields for a verbal argument. He met with the two parties involved and told them to leave the soccer complex and discuss their issues with the director of the league.

The officer was called back to the soccer fields 20 minutes later when the altercation had become physical. The report indicates 22-year-old Hannah Hart of Mountain Home, whom KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News has learned was an assistant coach for one of the teams, had pushed 54-year-old Keith O’Connor of Mountain Home, whom we learned was a fan at the game.

The report says Hart shoved O’Connor after he approached her family in an aggressive manner, yelling profanities and fans from both teams began gathering causing a disturbance. While the officer was speaking to O’Connor, he could smell the odor of intoxicants. A prelimary breath test showed O’Connor’s blood alcohol level was 0.03.

O’Connor was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct and Hart was charged with disorderly conduct.

The city decided to cancel the remaining four games in the U12 season following the incident.

Enoch Pepin is the Recreation Programmer for the city. He says they are taking steps to help prevent something like this from happening again when the season resumes in the spring, including more training for the officials and coaches.

Listen: