Town of Essex ‘satisfied’ with actions taken after an arrest at Harrow Arena

The front entrance of the Harrow Arena. (AM800 News file image)

The Town of Essex has reviewed an incident at one of its facilities involving members of a recreational hockey league that resulted in one person being arrested.

On Sept. 14, officers with the Essex OPP detachment were called to a report of an assault at the Harrow Arena on Mcaffee Street.

Investigators learned that there was an altercation in the arena lobby, and one person was assaulted.

The victim suffered minor injuries.

The altercation in the lobby stemmed from an alleged on-ice incident that continued after the game.

Director of Community Services Jake Morassut says the situation was investigated by the OPP, and any time they have a situation like this, they cooperate with the investigators.

Morassut says the facility is equipped with security cameras, and OPP officers were able to review that footage.

He says they have taken action to work with the individual user group, and several suspensions were issued by the league.

“They’ve taken their own internal steps, and then prior to them coming back from that disciplinary action, we’re going to meet with the people that were involved individually, along with the president, to make sure the code of conduct of our facilities is reiterated so that we can prevent these situations from happening again,” he says.

Morassut says the ultimate goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“It’s supposed to be a safe space where people can go and have recreational activities and enjoy themselves,” he says. “This type of activity that happens takes away that enjoyment, not only for people on the ice with them, but also for people that were also enjoying the facility that were outside that user group.”

Morassut adds the town is satisfied with how the league president handled the situation.

A 41-year-old man from Leamington was arrested and charged with assault in connection with the incident.