RI Interscholastic League to Review Incident of Alleged Assault by Providence Firefighter on Minor

RI Interscholastic League to Review Incident of Alleged Assault by Providence Firefighter on Minor

On Monday, GoLocal broke the story that a Providence firefighter has been charged after allegedly assaulting a juvenile at a high school boys’ lacrosse game over the weekend.

The incident took place adjacent to the Division III Championship between Lincoln High School and Mt. Hope High School at Brown University on Saturday afternoon.

According to police, parents of the juvenile victim are pressing charges against Derek Campbell, a Providence firefighter and father of a Lincoln High School player, after they said he grabbed their son during a fight.

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The Rhode Island Interscholastic League provided GoLocal with the following statement on behalf of the Principals Committee on Athletics.

 

RIIL STATEMENT

The Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) is aware of the allegations regarding an incident that occurred outside of the Brown University campus on Lloyd Avenue following the Boys Lacrosse Division III Championship game on Saturday, June 6. 

At this time, the RIIL is gathering information and will continue to communicate with appropriate authorities as needed. Because this involves an ongoing legal matter, the RIIL will not comment further at this time.

In a previous, somewhat similar incident in 2019, the RIIL banned a parent from attending RIIL events for life. READ HERE

 

About Saturday’s Incident

Providence Police were called to Lloyd Avenue shortly after 6 PM on Saturday, after dispatch advised there was “an adult male attempting to fight with juveniles on scene.”

According to police, when officers arrived, the suspect had fled the scene - but witnesses provided a description of what they said took place.

Witnesses told police that they believed the suspect, later identified as Campbell, “was drinking in the Moses Brown parking lot across the street prior to the game.”

According to witnesses, when the Mt. Hope team was walking to their bus after winning the game,  the “Lincoln team along with Campbell were upset and yelling obscenities towards the team.”

The victim told police he had yelled, “Get the f-ck out of here” toward Campbell, at which time Campbell “turned towards [his] direction grabbing him by the shirt collar and shaking him.” The victim told police that Campbell had not physically struck him.

His parents told police they wished to press charges.

Campbell is now being charged with one count of “simple assault or battery.”