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FARMINGTON — A former Lagoon employee arrested after police say he assaulted three 11-year-old boys said Tuesday he is extremely remorseful for what he did.
"I'm sorry. I knew I could have handled it better. I'll try to learn from this experience as much as possible. I know it doesn't mean much now considering it already happened. But I'll try my best to make it never happen again," a remorseful Seth Maycock told KSL on Tuesday.
I'm sorry. I knew I could have handled it better. I'll try to learn from this experience as much as possible. I know it doesn't mean much now considering it already happened. But I'll try my best to make it never happen again.
–Seth Maycock
Maycock, 19, was arrested Monday night after police say he attacked three juvenile park patrons. The 11-year-old boys were in line for the Samari ride when Maycock informed them the park was closing.
"Some words were exchanged between the boys and the guy. He told them the ride was closing and taking offense to what the kids were saying," said Farmington Police Lt. Parish Snyder.
The boys were reportedly trying to get back on the ride one more time, he said. There was also allegedly a dispute over a pair of sunglasses that were on the ground, Snyder said.
"He took offense to whatever they said," according to Snyder.
The verbal confrontation allegedly led to Maycock grabbing one of the juveniles by the throat, punching a second in the jaw and elbowing a third in the chest. Snyder did not know exactly what was said between the man and the children. But he said it didn't matter.
He's a 19-year-old adult and these are 11-year-old boys. He should never respond like he did.
–Lt. Parish Snyder
"He's a 19-year-old adult and these are 11-year-old boys. He should never respond like he did," he said.
While being interviewed by police at Lagoon, Maycock reportedly told officers that "he just snapped and didn't know what got into him," Snyder said.
When interviewed by KSL, Maycock declined to say what exactly transpired between him and the boys. But he admitted that hitting the juveniles "wasn't the right thing to do."
"I'm ashamed of it, yes," he said. "Everybody has a breaking point. Mine just happened to explode."
The three juveniles were all treated by EMTs at the scene and released. Maycock, who was fired after the incident, was also booked into the Davis County Jail and later released.
"It's something that surely shouldn't have happened," Dick Andrew, Lagoon's vice president of marketing, said Monday. "Our employees are trained to handle any kinds of situations with the public in a diplomatic and appropriate manner, and it appears that is not what took place in this case."
Maycock had worked at Lagoon since the beginning of this season and had a good employee record until Monday night.
Email:preavy@ksl.com