The parents of a Bothell Junior Football Association player have been charged with assault following an altercation with a parent from an opposing team that spiraled out of control on Oct. 4 at Pop Keeney stadium in Bothell.

Christina and Thomas Van Ruiten were charged with fourth-degree assault in Bothell Municipal Court after Bothell police found that they instigated the physical violence. The incident has resulted in The Council of Great Eastside Junior Football Association banning both teams from the playoffs.

The altercation began when a female parent of the visiting Renton Five Star Junior Football team began yelling at a referee for missing a penalty call for too many players on the field, according to the Bothell Police Department report.

The Renton parent was near the field in the stands behind the Bothell bench, when Bothell parent Christina Lee Van Ruiten confronted her and asked her to be quiet. She was assigned as the field manager.

“She said that all her chants and vocal outbursts were in support of her team and never once did she demean or yell any type of obscenities,” the officer wrote in the report. Other parents also confirmed her account of her actions during the game.

But Christina Van Ruiten said that she was warned about the woman before the game began and was asked by several parents to do something about her during the contest.

The two women began to argue after Christina Van Ruiten told her she could “cheer for her team, but don’t yell at the refs.” When the Renton woman began to use obscenities toward her she asked the woman to leave the stadium and the woman refused, the Bothell Police Department report states. The field manager’s ex husband, Thomas Van Ruiten, then walked over with their daughter.

The field manager told the Renton woman to watch what she says because children were around. Several witnesses said someone yelled “[expletive] the children.”

“It’s a little kids football game,” Christina Van Ruiten told police. “I never thought it would turn out like this and that she would just leave when she was told to leave.”

The Bothell parent said that she felt she was not properly trained to handle the incident and she never considered or was told to call the police.

The two women got chest-to-chest and the field manager told police she felt boxed in by the woman and a fence. Police concluded from the video that Christina Van Ruiten had ample opportunity to walk away and defuse the situation or call 9-1-1, but instead she allegedly shoved the Renton parent in the chest, knocking her backwards. The Renton parent then struck Christina Van Ruiten in the face in self defense as she fell backward. The video also shows the Christina Van Ruiten’s ex husband, dressed in a team gear, punching the Renton female. As she fell backward, the man attempts to hit her two more times, according to the police report.

“The Renton woman said during all the confusion this was what she believed and yelled out that a Bothell coach had assaulted her, which also led to the confusion and anger that followed,” the officer wrote in the report.

The Renton woman’s son allegedly came down from the stands, jumped the fence and confronted the Bothell coaches. A Bothell coach also told officers the man gestured that he had a gun.

“Just because we’re black doesn’t mean we’re all gang-bangers with guns,” the Renton woman told police.

The woman went on to accuse some in the crowd of yelling racist things during the altercation. Many of the police heard things yelled at them like, “Ferguson cops” and “white pigs,” according to police documents.

The Renton woman also told police: “Speaking as a black female, if the tables were turned and a black person assaulted a white person, the black person would have been arrested. No one was arrested from the Bothell side that day.”

But police contend that if there was an arrest that night they would have arrested the wrong person – a Bothell coach – instead of the Van Ruitens. Only after obtaining video surveillance were the Bothell police able to figure out what happened.

Her son told police he jumped the fence because of the “taunting, words and assaultive behavior during the fight.”

“The event resulted in posturing but no physical altercation occurred,” the officer states in the report.

“… we do not condone physical altercations under any circumstances,” wrote Bothell Cougar Junior Football Association President Greg Fisherkeller on the club’s website representing all members of the organization’s board. “We also fully reject and find offensive all possible derogatory statements made from either side that day. It is not accepted in our club or our community.”

Another man from Renton who threw a punch, initially left the stadium following the altercation and was found to have a misdemeanor warrant out of Fife for his arrest for an unrelated issue. The man was also identified as initially yelling at referees from the stands.

All parties declined medical attention but the Bothell coach had a visible red mark on his neck, Christina Van Ruiten had scratches on her face and the Renton woman, who was involved in the original altercation, complained that her back and cheek bone hurt, the document continues. The officer states in the report that he did not see any marks on the Renton parent.

Officers reported different stories from each person they spoke with at the stadium. Another Renton parent accused two Bothell football coaches of allegedly hitting Renton fans during the altercation. But the Bothell coaches stated that they were attempting to break up the altercation and were hit themselves. Police observed red marks where the coaches stated they were hit and the video does not support the other Renton parents account of the situation.

Due to the disruption of the game the referees ruled the game a forfeiture by both teams and all the players, coaches and fans were escorted from the stadium by Bothell police.

As a result the league has banned both teams from the playoffs. The Renton Five Stars were undefeated until the forfeit loss.

Fishkeller posted a statement on the club’s website to address the situation: “Two weeks ago, our program was tarnished. A couple of our parents were involved in an aggressive physical confrontation with a parent from another team. That physical altercation and any derogatory language used that day by anyone, from either side, was completely unacceptable.”

The Bothell parents involved, as well as three parents from the Renton Five-Stars, have been banned from any games through the end of the 2014 football season.

“Yelling at other fans, opposing coaches or players, officials – and certainly aggressive physical contact against anyone – must not stand in Bothell Cougar Football Association,” Fishkeller continued. “We exist so that kids can learn how to be good sportsmen and teammates. To work hard, have fun, respect everyone and play fair. No matter what. The bonus is, they learn the skills of a sport along the way.”

That female Renton parent told officers, following the incident, that the league made a mistake when it put the opposing parents in the same stands together.

“Every other game at other stadiums always had teams and their supporters sit on opposite sides of each other,” the Renton parent told police.

The altercation also took place as one of the players lay on the field injured with a broken wrist. Emergency personnel could not tend to the boy until the melee in the stands had been resolved.

“This program is about the kids and always will be. That is our focus,” Fishkeller said. “Their protection is the only priority.”

The Van Ruitens will be arraigned on Oct. 28 in Bothell Municipal Court.