Youth Football Coach Charged With Assaulting Referee

A youth football coach who became enraged when a referee ended a game early in Aspen Hill because of his and his team's conduct is accused of retrieving a bag containing a gun from a vehicle and threatening the referee, police said.

The coach, Aaron McCown, 31, was charged with assault and other offenses. The incident occurred Saturday during a game between the White Oak and Old Town Gators, according to the Maryland-National Capital Park Police.

Darren Brown, the referee, called the game early "due to violent behavior by the Gators players and abusive language and threats by the Gators coaching staff," Detective Bill Kellogg wrote in a charging document.

McCown, the Gators coach, approached Brown and said: "I have something for your [buttocks]," the detective wrote.

McCown, of Baltimore, ran to the parking lot next to the field, which is on Baltic Avenue in Aspen Hill Park, and grabbed a black bag from another man's truck. Authorities later discovered that the bag contained a gun, police said.

According to the charging document, a woman at the game said she heard McCown say, "We are going to get that fat [expletive] ref," as McCown ran toward Brown with the bag in hand.

Brown and others at the park called 911, police said.

McCown returned to the parking lot, placed the bag in the bed of the truck and left the area. The truck remained at the park. Officers searched the bag and found a .45-caliber handgun inside.

McCown was arrested Wednesday and charged with first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and other offenses.

McCown pleaded guilty to assault and robbery in the late 1990s and was convicted in a drug case last year, court records show.

He was being held last night at the Montgomery County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. It was unclear whether he had retained a lawyer.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.