The Chicago-area teen who punched a Kansas City Royals coach at a White Sox game in September apologized to him Thursday at a court hearing and the coach recommended the boy get probation.
Tom Gamboa, the first base coach, said he didn’t know what hit him near the end of the Sept. 19 game at Comiskey Park.
“It happened from behind. My head was hit so hard, I felt like I got hit by a truck,” he said at a presentencing hearing in Juvenile Court for the boy who, with his father, William Ligue Jr., is accused of aggravated battery and mob action in the incident. The teen has pleaded guilty.
The elder Ligue was given a reduced bond Thursday in a separate court appearance.
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In Juvenile Court, Gamboa said hearing in his right ear remains muffled as a result of the attack. Still, the former Chicago Cubs third base coach said after talking to his five adult children about possible punishment, he hopes the boy has learned from his mistakes and gets no more jail time.
“I was a tough parent. I didn’t have much tolerance for people who got in trouble. … [But] I have compassion. I don’t want to see a 15-year-old kid go down the drain on a tragic mistake.
“I hope he realizes this isn’t the way to go [in life]. … If he gets probation or counseling, I hope it wouldn’t be taken as a slap on the wrist. I want it to be firm enough that it becomes a crossroads [for him].”
The boy then stood before Gamboa and read an apology that his lawyers said he had written himself.
“I can neither excuse or explain my actions. I regret them,” he said. “I’m sorry I put you and your family through so much grief.” He also apologized to the security guard who was hit in the incident.
The high school sophomore said Gamboa did nothing to provoke the attack.
That acknowledgment was important to Gamboa, who said his integrity had been impugned when statements were made that he had somehow provoked the attack.
“I’m glad that came out,” Gamboa said after the hearing, adding he also has been bothered by the attention the case has received.
“I’ve been in baseball for 30 years–25 years in the minors. … I want to be remembered for my accomplishments, not this.”
The boy’s probation officer, Carolina Araiza, also testified on his behalf Thursday, saying the teen’s father had great influence over his son.
On the night of the attack, Araiza said the senior Ligue was drunk, on Valium and repeatedly questioned his son’s loyalty.
Araiza also said, according to the boy, the attack on Gamboa was random. “Whoever is closest to us, that’s who we’ll pick,” she said the teen told her.
The probation officer recommended the teen receive 30 hours of community service, 18 months’ probation and no contact with members of the Satan Disciples street gang.
The presentencing hearing before Judge Paul Stralka continues Friday.
Meanwhile, in Cook County Criminal Court a judge reduced the bond for William Ligue Jr., the teen’s 35-year-old father from Alsip, to $10,000, saying the previous $200,000 was too high.
In announcing his decision Judge Leo Holt said the case represents prosecutors’ pursuit of high cash bonds to keep defendants incarcerated prior to trial. He said an excessive cash bond punishes a defendant before a guilty finding.
A person can wait for trial at home if they have the means, the judge said. “And if you cannot pay for it, we will lock you up in our jail and destroy you prior to trial,” Holt said, saying a pretrial stint in jail affects the defendant’s ability to participate in his defense and support his family.
Prosecutors arguing to keep the higher bond showed a videotape taken by a Comiskey Park surveillance camera, which captured the attack on Gamboa.
Holt said just because an alleged crime is captured on video does not preclude the raising of a defense.
“Those of us who are old enough may very well remember another event captured on videotape in the 1990s out in California, involving a man named Rodney King,” he said.