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Lacrosse trainer's assault case heading to trial

Dwayne Palomaki, accused of assaulting referee during tournament in Orillia, will go to trial in September 2020
lax ref assault
A lacrosse referee was assaulted while officiating at Rotary Place. The Ontario Lacrosse Association Officials posted this photo about the 'heinous' incident.

A lacrosse trainer accused of assaulting a referee during a game in Orillia this summer is going to trial.

Dwayne Palomaki is charged with assault causing bodily harm, stemming from an incident that happened June 14 at Rotary Place during a game between two out-of-town midget teams as part of the Boyd Balkwill Memorial Tournament.

Palomaki, a trainer for the Innisfil team during the game, received a game misconduct after verbally berating officials, and was removed from the game, Shane Hubbard, special adviser for the Ontario Lacrosse Officials Association, told OrilliaMatters in June.

Gord Brown, the referee-in-chief, went to see if Palomaki had “left the building or nothing untoward was happening with the players and that's when the alleged assault happened,” Hubbard said.

“It's not clear how people became alerted to the incident. Brown was found in the hallway, bloodied and with facial trauma.”

Palomaki later turned himself in to police.

He has made multiple court appearances since he was charged, the latest being Tuesday. That’s when a trial date was set for Sept. 23 and 24, 2020. A status hearing has been scheduled for July 21.

— With files from Mehreen Shahid


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