West Valley man assaulted soccer player who elbowed him, charges say

TAYLORSVILLE — A West Valley man who police say kicked a teenage boy in the face during a soccer game in Taylorsville now faces a felony criminal charge.

Neftali Jose Martinez, 29, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.

Martinez was playing soccer at Eisenhower Middle School, 4351 S Redwood, on Sept. 26 when he was allegedly elbowed by a 16-year-old player from the other team during the course of play. In retaliation, Martinez threw the boy to the ground and kicked him in the face while the boy was still on the ground, according to charging documents.

The blow caused the boy to lose consciousness and suffer a large cut over his eye and the action started a "brawl" between both teams, according to a police booking affidavit.

Police believe the boy suffered a concussion, but otherwise had no other significant injuries.

There have been other incidents in recent years of criminal charges being filed due to fights or assaults breaking out at soccer games in Utah.

In 2019, a 41-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault for picking up another player and throwing him to the ground, breaking his collarbone, during a rec league game in Sandy, according to charging documents. The man took a plea in abeyance in December, pleading guilty to a reduced charge of attempted assault, a class A misdemeanor. The charge will be dropped if he does not commit any more crimes over the next year and a half.

In 2013, a 17-year-old was charged with homicide by assault, a third-degree felony, in juvenile court for punching a referee and causing his death. That game was also held at Eisenhower Junior High.

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