One charged in after-game assault on official

A Qulin man is facing assault charges for allegedly attacking a basketball official Thursday night after an eighth grade game between the Puxico and Twin Rivers teams.

Joshua Lilly of Qulin was arrested by the Butler County Sheriff’s Department Monday on suspicion of assaulting the official, said Puxico Police Chief Rick Sheren at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Sheren believes Lilly has been released on bond.

The incident is the first time in 48 years an official was assaulted in Southeast Missouri, said Randy Winston, coordinator for SEBO, Southeast Basketball Officials.

The chief believes the suspect had attended an earlier game which was refereed by the same official. Twin Rivers Qulin - Fisk had hosted Doniphan Oct. 22.

Sheren said, “he had heard the subject had attended a game where some type of animosity” happened.

Cpl. Brandon Throop responded to the call about 9 p.m. Families who were waiting in the parking lot watched the assault. He got witness statements. The official had changed clothes before leaving the building, which might have taken 20-30 minutes.

According to reports, the suspect came behind the victim, hitting him repeatedly.

The victim refused medical treatment at the scene, but he did seek aid at an area emergency room later, Sheren said.

Sheren added, “we have no copies of medical paperwork. We don’t know the extent of the damage done to the man. He did call yesterday and stated he had an injury.”

Sheren explained an investigation was conducted and a warrant was applied for to arrest Lilly. When the warrant was received, Butler County authorities arrested the suspect.

The chief explained, Monday morning they were able to get a copy of the security tapes. Throop then went to the Stoddard County Prosecutor’s office and warrants were applied for and received.

Sheren said, the security tapes from the scene are evidence and it’s still an ongoing investigation.

While Sheren’s budget and officers are limited, he said, “we are going to provide or try to provide extra security” at the games.

Extra security and police involvement pleases Winston.

“I’m just glad law enforcement acted on it,” Winston said. “We’ve got no animosity whatsoever toward either school involved. They both have been great partners of us through the years, taking care of business. This thing kind of happened in a parking lot after the game. It was pretty much totally unexpected. Neither school expected it, the official didn’t expect it.”

“Puxico and Twin Rivers both have taken extreme steps since then,” Winston said. “Everybody’s going to be walked to the car after the game. They couldn’t have anticipated that ahead of time and we’ve got no issues with either school district.”

Winston explained, administrators in charge of games also have to be concerned about any students or any people that are still inside the gymnasium.

“They can’t be everywhere, and we understand that,” Winston said. “Puxico, to their credit, has cameras all over the place and this incident, I was told, was all on cameras and they were able to share that with law enforcement. It was one of those things that’s just unfortunate. Schools now are taking steps. We’ve asked them to start making sure we get an escort to the car after the games are over.”

There are 125 officials in SEBO and Winston said, “incidents like this do not help our cause at all to recruit new officials. … It’s not really encouraging to make you want to get out there and blow the whistle.”

Winston said, this incident is “the first that I’m aware of. Now, I’ve read about them in other states and other places but it’s the first I’ve known of that I can recall.”

DAR Sports Editor Brian Rosener contributed to this article.