Police: Delta man grabbed teen son's soccer opponent by neck

A Delta man was charged Tuesday for an incident earlier this year during which he allegedly grabbed one of his teenage son's soccer opponents by the neck and slammed the boy against a wall.

Thomas Edward Mikolinis Sr., 58, of 379 Quarry Road, was charged with simple assault and harassment, according to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday against him.

On Jan. 31, a 17-year-old told York Area Regional Police that a man had grabbed him by the neck and thrown him up against a wall after a soccer game the teen had played at Heritage Hills Athletic Club at 2810 East Prospect Road in York Township, according to charging documents.

The teen said he'd been standing by an exit door when the man did that and said something along the lines of: "You need to get out of my way," documents state.

He said his neck and shoulders hurt from being slammed into the wall, and he went to York Hospital afterward, police say.

About a month later, he was still experiencing some pain in one of his shoulders and didn't have the full range of motion he'd had before, police allege. He told police in June he occasionally still was feeling some pain.

After the incident, officers got in touch with Mikolinis, who they suspected had shoved the teen, according to documents.

He said he had indeed been there, as his son had been playing in a soccer game, and after the game he had seen a boy from the other team follow his son outside, documents state. He told officers he thought the other teen was going to try to fight his son, so he tried to follow.

One of the players, also from the other team, had blocked his way, so he "gently placed his hand on the player's shoulder and asked the player to move to allow him to pass," police say he told them.

Mikolinis said he did not put his hand on the teenager's neck and that he never pushed him into a wall.

Magisterial District Judge John Fishel's office filed the charges by mail, which means Mikolinis wasn't arrested and isn't in custody, according to online court records.