Police were called on Monday night to the baseball fields at Parque de Vida for a report of several adults who were fighting at a children’s T-ball game.
One woman, Keesha MacAulay of Cortez, was issued a summons for disturbance of the peace after a parent claimed she had hit a 13-year-old girl during the game, according to police. Myra Yellowhorse, a spectator from Shiprock, New Mexico, posted a short video of the incident to Facebook that had received about 12,000 views by Thursday afternoon. The video shows several women kicking and dragging MacAulay, who appeared to be trying to grab one of them by the hair.
According to the police report, no one was injured in the fight, although medics were called to examine one woman because she was pregnant and said she wasn’t feeling well. After being checked, she declined further assistance.
Witnesses gave conflicting reports about what started the fight, but responding officers declined to press assault charges against anyone, saying that there were no serious injuries.
Cortez Parks and Recreation Director Dean Palmquist said on Thursday that he wasn’t aware of the incident. The city softball field was being used at the time by the Southwest Softball Association, which was holding its last girls T-ball game of the season.
Umpire director Randi Elliott said that according to team rules, MacAulay will be barred from attending the next two games, which in this case will be the first two games of the next season. Elliott said she has been involved with the Association since she played T-ball as a child, and physical fights like this are rare.
“I think it’s the first time (police have been called) since I’ve been there,” she said.
Palmquist said police used to be called fairly often to the Recreation Center and the nearby fields in Parque de Vida, but those calls have dropped off.
“It really has lessened over the years,” he said. “It had been more when we allowed more unpaid space in the facility.”
He said the city’s adult softball league still sees about one fight per year, usually between players and umpires, but city policy is to suspend players from the program if they’re caught fighting.