Southington man banned two years from attending high school sports, including his daughter’s
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A Southington man was sentenced Tuesday to two years’ probation, during which he will not be allowed to attend any high-school sporting events, including those of his daughter.
Daniel L. Miracle, 44, of Shanks Phalanx Road pleaded guilty earlier in Trumbull County Common Pleas court to two misdemeanor assault charges.
They stemmed from Miracle head-butting a boy, and assaulting an assistant soccer coach, after a girls high- school soccer game Sept. 28 in Newton Falls.
Police said it happened as fans were leaving the Newton Falls High School football stadium, where the Newton Falls girls soccer team defeated LaBrae 2-1.
Police said Miracle assaulted the student, 15, just after the boy walked near a LaBrae High School bus. Witnesses said they heard someone tap or slap the bus, and Miracle confronted the boy about it.
The boy told Miracle he wasn’t afraid of him, and Miracle head-butted the boy in the mouth, knocking a tooth loose, Newton Falls police said.
After the assault, an assistant Newton Falls coach stepped forward and pulled the boy away from Miracle. Olivia D. Miracle, 21, of the same address as Daniel Miracle, then also assaulted the boy, and Daniel Miracle assaulted the assistant coach, police said. The assistant coach also is an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper.
Olivia Miracle was later convicted in Newton Falls Municipal Court of fourth-degree misdemeanor assault and was placed on six months’ probation.
Daniel Miracle was indicted on felonious assault related to the boy and misdemeanor assault related to the coach. He could have gotten eight years in prison if convicted of felonious assault.
Miracle apologized Tuesday before Judge Logan for “allowing my protective instincts to take over” and said he has “no intention” of being in trouble for something like this again, calling it “an isolated incident.”
He told Judge Logan the incident was “was in no way related to a soccer game.” Instead, it was provoked by things done to two members of the Miracle family, he said.
Judge Logan called it a “a disturbing case when you have events at a school.”
Miracle is also banned from illegal use of drugs or alcohol and banned from having any contact with the teenage victim.