A man was charged on Thursday after allegedly attacking a sports coach with an umbrella during a rugby match.
Police said a fight broke out during a rugby game in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 27. Coach Semisi Tupouta tried to intervene but was hit multiple times with an umbrella, rendering him unconscious and blind in his right eye, according to court documents obtained by Newsweek.
Takes Mafileo Vakapuna, 39, was charged Thursday in Salt Lake City Municipal Court with assault causing serious injury, a second-degree felony.
According to medical documents provided to Salt Lake City police, Tupouta required surgery to repair a traumatic eye injury in his right eye and was blind 16 days after the incident.
According to a report provided to Newsweek, Officer R. Thomas of the Salt Lake City Police Department investigated the incident and spoke with multiple witnesses. One witness, Sefina Lialina Ahu, reportedly said Tupouta’s eye was “cut and swollen shut.” Ahu also provided video footage of the incident, which police say identified Vakapuna.
Another witness, Eseta Ngaru, said he saw Vakapuna punching the coach and rushed to help the coach, who fell to the ground, and later said the coach’s eye wound was “spurting blood”.
Police also spoke to three other witnesses who provided information that led to charges being laid against Vakapuna, according to reports.
According to Neighborhood Scout, Salt Lake City has one of the highest crime rates of any city in the United States and is the most dangerous place to live in the state. Residents have a 1 in 13 chance of being the victim of a violent or property crime. Residents have a 1 in 102 chance of being the victim of a violent crime that includes assault.
The 2023-24 data reported that Utah was the 11th most dangerous city in the U.S., according to Fox 13. U.S. News also ranked Utah the most dangerous city in the U.S. for 2024.
Despite this, the outlet also reported that Salt Lake City was ranked 58th among the top 100 cities to live in the US for 2023-24.
The rankings were determined in five categories: desirability, value, job market, quality of life and net immigration.
Have a story we should feature? Have a question about this article? Contact us at LiveNews@newsweek.com.