New York firefighter charged with assault of referee during 10-year-old’s game

A New York firefighter has been charged with assault on a sports official, harassment, and disorderly conduct, and engaging in fighting after an altercation during a 10-year-old’s basketball game in Pennsylvania recently.

The event was recorded and went viral on TikTok before being taken down. The video showed Jomo Errol Belfore attacking a referee — head-butting and punching the official — after pulling the basketball from the referee’s hands.

The official suffered a black, chipped tooth, and swollen lip according to reports.

A recent article from the Yonkers Times detailed the incident and reaction from the involved parties. Below is an excerpt from the Yonkers Times article.

Belfor flew into a rage after what he thought was a bad call by the ref, a foul on one of his players. The ref gave Belfor a technical foul and asked security to remove him, but before that happened, Belfor beat the ref so hard that spectators ran onto the court. The game was held at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster County. East Hempfield Township police responded to the call.

Belfor was a very good basketball player, a coach, and a worker for Hoop Lab Fam at the time of the incident. His bio from Hoop Lab reads. “Jomo is from Mount Vernon, New York, where he attended high school and played varsity basketball for four years. He graduated from James Madison University, earning a Division 1 Scholarship and being a standout point guard. Jomo went on to play professionally in Columbia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

“Currently, founded a non-profit organization, The Forumla by LaboutSkill, which has a mission of working with youth in underserved communities. He aims to teach transferable life skills through basketball. Jomo brings excellent experience in player development. He pays great attention to detail and player fundamentals. He has a gift in his ability to teach children of all talent levels. He is an interactive trainer and likes to demonstrate drills as he teaches them to athletes.

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This example of outbursts and violence against Referees and Umpires has made it difficult for Sports leagues and organizations to find and hire new refs.

Sam Riti, who has been refereeing basketball games across Westchester for 50 years, said, “Some refs don’t want to do it anymore. It’s not worth the risk of something like this happening.”

To read the full story from the Yonkers Times, click here.