3 charged after brawl breaks out during youth hockey tournament in South Jersey

EGG HARBOR TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Three people are facing charges after a brawl broke out during a youth hockey tournament in South Jersey.

It happened on Saturday during the Veterans Memorial Invitational tournament in Egg Harbor Township.

Video that is now under investigation by Egg Harbor Township police shows an all-out brawl.

"What the videos showed and what we found is the kids had got into an altercation on the court, which led to some of the coaches coming out on the court as well as some of the parents who also came out on the court," said Sgt. Ben Kollman with the Egg Harbor Township Police Department.

On Wednesday, police confirmed three people were being charged with assault and disorderly conduct. The individuals have been identified as Colleen Biddle, 41, of Philadelphia, Robert Schafer, 38, of Maple Shade, NJ, and Justin Pacheco, 38, of Philadelphia.

Two teams that attended the tournament - Maple Shade Cadet A and Philadelphia Frenzy Cadet A - each put out statements saying they accept any disciplinary actions from the American Ball Hockey Alliance, including suspension from the tournament.

The Alliance also released a lengthy statement, part of which says, "We want to emphasize that this type of behavior is not representative of normal street/dek hockey play, and violence is never condoned in our sport."

The president of the Egg Harbor Township Street Hockey Association, which hosts the tournament, emphasized that none of its players were involved in the incident, and that the behavior will not be tolerated at future tournaments.