A Waianae High School assistant baseball coach who bumped an umpire with his chest during a heated dispute in a 1994 game on Kauai spent last weekend in jail.
Fred Kuhaulua Sr., 43, the Seariders' pitching coach for eight years, was sentenced to a weekend in jail and fined $1,000 on charges of assault, by Circuit Court George Masuoka last Thursday.
The judge also suspended Kuhaulua from coaching for a year and told him he can't attend any sporting events unless they involve his children.
Waianae High athletic director Harry Mitsui said he needs to receive official word of the proceedings before he can say anything about Kuhaulua's status with the school.
The incident occurred between Kuhaulua and umpire Gordon Bonilla after a play at third base during a game against Kauai High, according to Kauai coach Kenneth Mizuo. Waianae coach Ralph Onzuka said the call was made from behind second base by Bonilla.
Kuhaulua was the third base coach at the time and Onzuka was coaching at first.
Bonilla said called interference on a base runner who stuck out his arm to deflect the ball during a rundown between second and third.
"Then the coach ran toward me at a full sprint and bumped me, pushed me back about five feet, and then he bumped me again," Bonilla said. "At that point, I had had enough, ... so I left the field to call the police."
Bonilla ejected Kuhaulua from the game.
Masuoka told Kuhaulua that coaches have a tremendous effect on young athletes so they should always set a good example.
Court records show that Kuhaulua was first indicted on a felony assault count because the umpire worked for the state Department of Education.
But Kuhaulua later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge.