Utah soccer referee Ricardo Portillo dies week after being punched

[alp227]

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Ricardo Portillo’s miracle never came.

The 46-year-old soccer referee died Saturday, after a week in a coma.

The Unified Police Department press release announcing Portillo’s death said the 17-year-old boy accused of punching Portillo remains in a juvenile detention facility. He has not been formally charged with any crime.

"Formal charges will be screened early next week with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office," the press release said. "Since Portillo has passed away additional charges will be screened in connection with his death."

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56263774-78/portillo-police-news-soccer.html.csp

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An article in Saturday's Tribune summarized a police report about the incident:

...as players jostled for position, he saw the goalkeeper push an opponent with his hands. Portillo lifted his "Yellow Card," issuing a warning to the 17-year-old boy. He then began writing the infraction in his official’s notebook.

According to a police report, obtained Friday by The Salt Lake Tribune under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, the 46-year-old Portillo probably never saw the blow coming — a powerful punch to the head that would leave him in a coma and fighting for his life a week later.

Witnesses told police on April 27 that the teenage goalie — playing in his first game for the La Liga Continental de Futbol squad — was enraged by the call. He punched Portillo once. The referee went down on the field at Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville, and that is where Unified Police Department officers found him lying when they responded to a 911 call about 11:40 a.m. that Saturday.

This game was in a recreational league, not the official Utah youth soccer league, per KSL television. And wow...this kid really destroyed his future and another person's life just because he didn't like the ref's call?

I'd seen this story before on KSL.com when I visited the station site after learning about the station dropping Hannibal. I ignored it then but saw this story re-surface on the AP newswire just now because of Portillo's death. The teenager threw out both an angry punch AND any hopes of a stable adult life.

The Liga Continental Facebook page posted this photo of Portillo:



(In English: "WE ARE WITH YOU! Today for him, Tomorrow for us!&quot

[TDale313]

1. How incredibly sad for all involved. n/t

[freshwest]

2. What a waste.

[graham4anything]

3. This is a reminder of what happens when someone doesn't respect authority.

I hope the alleged murderer can be charged as an adult.
He is the personification of a bully.
Another Zimmerman thinking above it all.

[tblue]

4. I wouldn't go that far.

George Zimmerman is a racist who stalked an unarmed teenager with a gun and an itchy trigger finger. This soccer player is a kid with a violent temper, zero judgment and brute strength. I feel for his family and the life he could have led. And for the ref and his family, I just grieve. I can't defend what the young man did, but I doubt he intended to kill the referee. But who knows?

[graham4anything]

5. But his temper means he is a danger to anyone else who comes in contact with him.

let alone any friend or relationship he might have (male or female, I would worry they would be in danger every single day of him flipping again).

And his parents should be forced to pay the coach's family if the kid is not charged as an adult.

As for sports-this can make every single coach, referee or umpire now suspicious of making any call at all.
Because they will never know if someone will do what happened here.

So an example needs to happen to stop this from an everyday event.

[DFW]

6. Not so much respecting authority as possessing civility

"Respecting authority" also implies respecting Cheney (dba Bush) invading Iraq, respecting the decision of the Scalia Five that put Bush Lite in the Oval Office, etc. I respect authority only when it has been bestowed on someone who does not disabuse it.

However, one can protest a referee's call without delivering debilitating lunches to the guy's head, fatal or otherwise.

[graham4anything]

7. as always, it is either anarchy or order, Control or chaos, law or vigilantism

I choose control, law and order.(r.i.p. lumiere).

[DFW]

10. I don't see things quite that black and white

After all, George Wallace trying to prevent the first black student from entering some university in Alabama was "authority." So was the national guard sent to thwart him. The cop rescuing a girl from a would-be rapist is authority. So is the cop shooting an innocent because he didn't like the guy's face.

Control sometimes IS chaos. The law sometimes IS vigilantism. I choose law and order only so long as the law is just and there is popular control over who applies the order. Law and order meant two very different concepts depending whether they were applied under Ghandi or Stalin.

[heaven05]

12. you

I totally agree with.

[DFW]

15. It's been known to happen..........

Though usually only on the first and third Sundays of odd-numbered months.

[graham4anything]

13. Sorry, I disagree....

George Wallace was a governor who was trumped by the US Supreme Court and the President.

So a higher authority still was the sane one.

The policeman rescusing a girl is doing the correct thing.

The CORRUPT cop should be fired and only good policemen should be hired with proper training.

Corruption happens everywhere.
Yesterday was an anniversary of Kent State, but it seems an anarchist was the one who gave the call to shoot and not the authority.

No system is perfect, but anarchy loses every single time.
Vigilantism loses every single time (like the awipes on Danzinger Bridge, and Zimmerman).

V for Vengence was a rightwing extremist and the real life was a rightwing terrorist who killed.

The people at Waco killed authority and then blew themselves up.

Tim McCoward believed in anarchistic conspiracy theories and killed innocent kids

I can't think of any case where it isn't better to go with authority every single time, EVEN IF
a small percentage turns out wrong.

BTW-if the SCOTUS had stuck with their 7 to 2 FIRST decision to send it back to Florida for final word, no one would be complaining.
It was only a decision one doesn't like here, however, if Gore won, they wouldn't like it.
The court itself did not break the law. They decided and they are the top authority and have the final word.

In reality 2000 happened because of anarchy and traitorism in Ralph Nader.
Each side plays to win. Nader played to be the court jester with zero chances of winning.

It's like a baseball umpire. 99% of the time they are correct. 1% they make an error.
People only care about the error.

Same with the TSA at the airport. Maybe a billion people go through the airport, 5 make a complaint, all 5 coincidentally having an agenda and a camera.
Another 9-11 hasn't happened from airplanes in the USA leaving, I don't mind TSA at all.

I don't mind cameras.

I do mind vigilantes and hot heads like this person killing another because they don't like authority.

imho don't mind if people disagree or agree.This isn't facebook where only those one lets in can get to play. It also isn't a game.

BTW, irony would be if the Robert Redford movie about an underground terrorist from the older days was the cause of the FBI naming who they did to their top 10 list.

[DFW]

17. We'll have to disagree, then

I maintain that there will always be a difference between authority bestowed by popular consent and authority assumed, and that they are rarely equal, not always benevolent, and never above question.

[heaven05]

18. attention!

right face! forward march!

[SunSeeker]

20. Well said. Thank you. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

22. An anarchist gave the order to shoot at Kent State? What the fuck are you on about?

That is the single most absurd thing I've ever seen you write, and that's saying something!

[ForgoTheConsequence]

28. You wont get an explanation.

He writes absurd things and then never backs them up when questioned. No accountability at all for his own actions or words.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

27. More nonsense from you.

Word salad.

I bet you loved Kent State. If you were alive in 1857 you would have cheered for and accepted the ruling in the Dred Scott case, after all we have to respect authority at all times!!!! (so says the weak minded without an ounce of original thought or creativity)


Move along little troll.

[graham4anything]

29. go to the historical record. Someone in the crowd yelled and the shooting began.

and yawn, more name calling. As said, I am Jewish I have heard alot worse, as did my mother and grandparents forced to lose everything as they left Austria to make their way to America, and the people back then didn't think they were worthy of entering the war for far too long til they had an excuse with Pearl Harbor.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

30. Hahahaha.

So someone yelled and that's why they deserved to be shot? You're a lunatic!

And don't make asinine comments and then hide behind Judaism, that's a lame move and disrespects those who have suffered in the past.

You being called out for saying stupid shit isn't the same as antisemitism.

[graham4anything]

32. who said they deserved to be shot? You are adding things to appeal to your agenda/angle.

The line about Kent State was that an anarchist was the one who wanted it, and got the results that person wanted, playing their own angle.

Why lie and say I said they deserved it?

how quaint.

My family suffered, by the way-the fake stupid gun mantra of the NRA was so untrue.
The only person in my family who had a gun in Nazi Austria blew his own head off, rather than give up the riches he accumlated over his life, as the rest of the family had to to leave.

so don't be so rude and disrespectful to those that had real loses and hardship like my mother and grandparents did.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

35. I'm sure your grandparents were great people.

I'm not sure what the NRA or guns have to do with you lying on the internet, but it's entertaining at least. Go on and make up some more nonsense, its almost like the worlds worst MadLibs puzzle.


I'm still waiting for your defense of Dred Scott.

[graham4anything]

37. The killer in the OP deserves the MAX sentence as an adult, to send a message

and if he is not tried as adult, he should be sued and his parents should pay big money.

That is the point.
One cannot take the law into their own hands, and Wallace was wrong and the higher law ruled so, so Wallace was the one committing anarchy and a crime doing what he did.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

39. Again, Dred Scott.

Defend it Graham, go ahead. Defend your precious "authority".

[ForgoTheConsequence]

31. BTW Lots of people were yelling.

It was a protest! You said an anarchist "gave the order to shoot".

You're a liar.

[graham4anything]

34. But it wasn't the authority, which was the point someone earlier had made on different thread.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

36. Oh lawd.

You're funny.

[graham4anything]

38. whatever.

like with the NRA / gun people, no circular arguments.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

40. You're right.

Its much easier to throw out as much bullshit as possible and hope you're not called on it.

[former9thward]

42. Wow! Someone on DU defending the murders at Kent State.

Yesterday was an anniversary of Kent State, but it seems an anarchist was the one who gave the call to shoot and not the authority.
I never thought I would see that. How many students should have been murdered by the "authority".

[graham4anything]

44. but nobody said that. Stop playing your agenda to fit something that wasn't said in a gotcha.

don't forget- it was NOT a peaceful protest. and there were many scenerios floating around that made it convienient to blame the national guard (who were just kids too in most cases)
however, NO murder conviction was found, and there was a person named who might or might not have been the one to yell fire who was NOT any part of the National Guard nor an innocent student.
(for the most part people seem to remember a song about the event as opposed to the facts of the case which didn't rhyme like the song did.)

It was not fun and games protest.

and of course, conspiracy theorists have had wanted to blame the National guard time and again and the tapes show a possible shot was fired before they took the first shot.
(and NO charge of murder was ever found, and people wrongly continue to call it that.)

It does seem that that Norman plant might have been to blame more than others, and he was not a member of the national guard whatsoever, so one can't blame the state national guard.

as always conspiracy theories.

The person who killed the ref should be jailed as an adult for the murder.
And no one should make excuses for them because someone might not like authority.
It's called responsibity.

and no one is forgetting about or condoning what happened.

Just who is being blamed.
It would be more realistic to blame President Nixon than to blame the national guard.

If one remembers about Vietnam, the troops were wrongly blamed and the public took it out on the troops after the war ended under Nixon.
One no longer blames the troops.

and there hasn't been another National Guard episode like that, because training was done to insure never again would it happen, and it hasn't.

to recap- NO ONE is saying it didn't happen. Just that the blaming of the state National Guard troops was not fair thing to do if someone in the crowd who was either a professional or an anarchist was the first one to do the firing. No one should have been killed

however- there were NO charges of Murder that were successful no matter how it don't fit the agenda. It is a very important legal term that just doesn't exist in that case.

[former9thward]

45. If someone in the crowd had fired the "authority" would have brought that out.

No evidence of that whatsoever. Apparently you don't believe the "authority" can cover up things and control grand juries. The did then and still do now.

[graham4anything]

46. Blame Nixon who would not have been president but for protesters in 1968 keeping LBJ out

because LBJ was taken out of the 1968 election, Nixon won.
LBJ would have beaten him, much like because of LBJ on the ticket, Nixon lost in 1960 in a close and very dirty race.

one can't have it both ways.

[bulloney]

14. What do they always show on the sports reports? Fighting among players and arguing with refs/umps.

Kids see this and think it's part of playing the game. I saw a HS basketball game last February where the kid gave facial expressions and gestures on every call made by the ref in the first couple minutes of the game. The ref didn't put up with it long and assessed him a technical after about the third act. Other games you see players involved in a foul, and right away the fouled player gets in the face of the opponent's players and you're just a split second from something really stupid happening. They see it on TV all the time and the media glorify it.

[graham4anything]

16. well yes, but

I go to baseball game hoping for a 1-0 pitcher's duel. That is action to me.
Seeing Koufax and Gibson and Seaver and Marichal that was why I went
Others go to NASCAR races hoping for people to die.
I happened to be in Florida when that Dale guy died. All the time non-stop for 10 days yada yada yada.
Called up my friends in NYC and aside from a small obituary, no one cared.

The media shows what people watch. People can turn the dial of course
If not enough watch, they change formats.

Which is why this kid needs to made an example of. So others don't do it.
Which is also why they never should name mass thrillkillers like the Boston ones, and
never show the idiots in the NY Subway who go "surfing" on the tracks.

[icarusxat]

8. Lack of education is the real problem...

People seem to not grasp the consequences of their actions. If you enjoy playing a game you play by the rules. If you cannot muster that level of integrity you don't get to play. Hockey has a penalty box, soccer has the red card; this sad excuse for a human has earned a permanent red card.

Society has prisons. Those who refuse to play by the rules or think they are above them should be held accountable.

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. "Recreational league"? Some "recreation".

The culture teaches kids... esp. boys....thru movies, tv, video games that that's what's you do when you get mad.

How many times did he see this type of response modeled in mass media over the last 17 years?

[Bluenorthwest]

19. The culture that teaches this is SPORTS Culture, not cinema and poetry, it is about the blood

lust called 'sport'. What is 'the art of boxing'? Punching others in the face until they drop. What do you think the Sports Culture taught young people with Michael Vick? 'No matter what, you get millions' they cheer for animal abuse, the President made phone calls for this scum.
What about Penn State?
Sorry, clean up Sports Culture. It is filled with actual violence, actual criminals, and a fan base that gets off on knowing their hero killed puppies for fun.
Cinema indeed. Television indeed. 'Hello this is the President, please pay the dog torturer millions to show children what is important'.

[Comrade Grumpy]

23. Oh, Good Lord. Give it a rest.

America is "filled with actual violence, actual criminals."

[L0oniX]

26. WTF yea ok apply that to rape culture then too. pfffft

Enough blame to go around huh? Since when do they send everyone who influenced a criminal to prison too? No excuses! That asshole and people like him need to be kept away from society. Hitting can and does kill ...even pushing can cause someone to fall and hit their head ...killing them. It's not like tv and I for one am not going to start making stupid dumb ass excuses for the dumb asses that do it.

[spicegal]

11. Sounds like a kid with some serious anger management problems, or he's had some really bad coaching

along the way, meaning coaches who tolerated his bad temper or encouraged rough play. It would be interesting to know if he's had other angry outbursts, physical or verbal. I've watched lots of youth soccer, and yes sometimes both kids and parents let their emotions get out of hand, but have never seen that kind of physicality toward a referee, even with an obviously bad call. I've seen players get rough with each other on the field, but never go after a ref.

[L0oniX]

25. That's bullshit! No excuses and blaming others!

"coaches who tolerated his bad temper or encouraged rough play" WTF

[Blue_Tires]

41. To be fair, this does point to a larger cultural issue

Of youth players, parents, coaches taking shit too seriously...No matter where you live, we all know stories of players, parents and coaches behaving badly in baseball football soccer and hockey...Sometimes there is gunplay, police involvement, long hospital stays, etc.

[madrchsod]

48. i coached youth soccer for 17 yrs

yes there were some parents that "encouraged" their children to play rough. another problem i ran into is parents thinking the same rules of contact were the same as football.

either i or the referee would warn the child or parent about playing rough either at the game or at practice. one of my games the referee ejected a parent off the field and after further confrontation threatened to call the police. ya it was a lot of fun and sometimes a big pain in the butt.


this kid had anger issues that were never addressed either at home or the playing field.

[SunSeeker]

21. Horrific. That poor man's family....

[L0oniX]

24. A lesson to those who resort to using fists ...it's not like on tv!

You can kill someone by hitting them with your hand/fist. Even pushing can kill someone if they fall and hit their head. Get physical with someone and you too can get a mugshot and a prison term.

[kestrel91316]

33. Well, that's murder. Not first degree, and not a capital offense IMHO,

but VERY VERY serious. I'd be giving him the maximum for assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, or manslaughter, or second degree murder, or whatever it is defined as.

[mainer]

43. If he did that to a referee, what will he do to a girlfriend? To a wife?

This teen is old enough to know right from wrong, and he was willing to commit battery in full view of the public.

He needs to be tried as an adult.

[Carolina]

47. or to a perfect stranger who crossed him

in a public place. Imagine a fender bender???!!!!

I agree. Try him as an adult with adult consequences. Where I live 17 is considered adult.