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Passaic baseball coach arrested, charged with hindering

By MEREDITH MANDELL

PASSAIC-- Police Tuesday arrested a city youth league baseball coach who left the scene of a brawl after two of his team members allegedly beat a rival and left him on the sidewalk bleeding.

Jose Concepcion, 41, a Henry Street resident, was charged with hindering, a third-degree felony, in the attack on Jonathan Flores, 15, police said. The boy remained hospitalized at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson Tuesday in stable condition with a broken cheekbone, fractured jaw and stitches over his left eye, according to his coach, Freddie Morales.

"We determined that he knew that his son and the other juvenile were involved and by taking them from the scene before the police got there, he was hindering the investigation," said Passaic police Capt. Tony Zampino.

On Tuesday afternoon, Concepcion was being held at the city jail awaiting a bail hearing.
He was also suspended from his duties as a volunteer coach with the city's recreation department, said Keith Furlong, a spokesman for Mayor Samuel Rivera.

Police also upgraded charges against one of Flores' attackers to aggravated assault from simple assault, following disclosure by doctors at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center that Flores had broken bones in his face. Doctors installed a metal plate into his face and performed surgery to repair his jaw, according to his mother, Dora Bustamante.
Concepcion was taken into custody after he came to the police station voluntarily in the afternoon, authorities said.

Witnesses said Concepcion was talking on his cell phone while the teens were attacking Flores on Sunday, a little after 5 p.m.

At a press conference Tuesday, police said Concepcion was driving members of Rivera's Red Sox home when two players jumped out of the vehicle on Passaic Avenue and attacked Flores, who was walking home with three friends.

One 16-year-old allegedly hit Flores in the legs with a baseball bat while another, Concepcion's 14-year-old son, allegedly punched him in the face.

As many as nine others crowded around, police said. Concepcion allegedly drove from the scene after the attackers returned to his vehicle.

The Red Sox had just lost to the Scarinci & Hollenback Yankees, a team sponsored by a local law firm. The game determined who would move on to the playoffs. Police said the victim had exchanged words with members of the Red Sox during the game.
Zampino said Concepcion told police that he had slowed down when he saw the group of teens walking.

When his son bolted out of the vehicle, Concepcion said he tried to stop him and called 911 for help, but the phone call didn't go through. A man driving a motorcycle with his wife called 911, police said, adding that they did not know who that man was.

Meanwhile, the city's Recreation Department suspended playoff games in the Babe Ruth League, ending the city's season without a champion. City Recreation Director Eriberto "Eddie" Carrero would not comment and referred telephone calls to Furlong, who said there are about 70 baseball teams in the city's Recreational Department.

The teams are sponsored for $600 a team by various businesses and individuals whose names are printed on T-shirts.

Coaches are required to sign a code of conduct upon registration and complete sportsmanship training at Rutgers University, Furlong said.

The Red Sox are among six baseball teams the mayor sponsors, he said. The mayor called Flores at the hospital and had spoken to the teen and his father at the hospital, Furlong said.

Morales said that the seriousness of the incident justified city officials in suspending the season and that the incident highlighted the need for good sportsmanship.

"Let this be a lesson for anyone else who has kids to not do these kinds of things with others," Morales said.

Other coaches said they felt bad for the children who had no involvement in the brawl and would not be able to finish their season.

"We have at least eight other teams, and I don't think they should be penalized by what happened Sunday evening," said Luis Santiago, 30, a city league coach whose 10-year-old son is a player.