Former Iowa assistant football coach charged with harassment after threatening referee

A former Lincoln High School assistant football coach was arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with first-degree harassment following a confrontation with a football official at a game in West Des Moines.

The charge stems from a criminal investigation into the incident at Valley Stadium, during which assistant coach Jason Storm, 44, of Des Moines charged at the official after a perceived missed call during Friday night’s game against Dowling Catholic.

Storm was riled up after a helmet-to-helmet collision between a Dowling defender and Lincoln quarterback Cayden Storm, who is the assistant coach’s son, resulted in a “no-call.” The assistant coach, Storm, believed the collision to be intentional and later said his son suffered a concussion.

Storm left the sideline and approached the head official, stating that he was going to “(expletive) kill him,” according to court documents. Storm was restrained from attacking the head official by coaching staff, and was escorted out of the stadium.

The incident was documented on video.

The official filed a police report with a police officer, according to a news release. The official did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Court documents claim Storm admitted to being upset over the “no-call,” and apologized for his actions and disrupting the game. He resigned Monday after coaching for about 15 years.

A person convicted of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor, can be imprisoned for up to two years.

Storm spent about six hours in custody Wednesday. He appeared in court and was ordered released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 20.

Phil Roeder, a Des Moines schools spokesman, said this week that there were mistakes made on both sides.

“There are two sides to the story, and neither one of them are particularly good,” Roeder said. Storm “recognized his mistake and owned up to it and stepped down. I hope the ref goes back and looks at the video and realizes he made a serious mistake, as well. There are missed calls in any sporting event, but missing something like that could have been a danger to both players.”