“At first I thought it was a joke,” Jeffrey Wheaton said of being arrested Saturday on a charge of interfering with public duties, a misdemeanor B charge. “But after that, I was humiliated.”

That humiliation has led to the investigation of Sgt. Tommy Jones with the Odessa Police Department after questions of the validity of the arrest rose to the surface.

Wheaton and David Hisaw, referees and board members with the Odessa Soccer Association, were both arrested and charged with interfering with public duties in connection with a scrum of parents from a soccer game two weeks prior, accused of interfering with Jones’ reported attempt to keep the peace.

According to an arrest affidavit, Jones said while off-duty he was trying to break up a disturbance among parents when Wheaton and Hisaw impeded his ability to get to the scuffle.

Jones also claimed in the affidavit that Hisaw pushed him and repeatedly asked him to leave after he identified himself as a police officer.

Wheaton and Hisaw have claimed they did not interfere in any investigation – Hisaw said he asked Jones to leave because he was the only parent left on the field whereas Wheaton said he didn’t know Jones was an officer as he wasn’t with Hisaw and Jones at first.

“(Jones) ran out on the field with every other excited parent and he wasn’t out there as a neutral party to stop that mess,” Hisaw said. “He was part of that mess.”

Jennifer Temple, also a board member with Odessa Soccer Association, said Jones took his job too far and the public way the arrest was made two weeks after the reported incident was uncalled for.

“I think it was done out of spite,” Temple said. “I think the cop was trying to say, ‘I got the last laugh.’”

Hisaw said he was acting as an associate referee on the sideline when the game ended and both sides normally meet at the middle of the field in a show of respect.

Turning his back for less than a minute, Hisaw looked back to find that the parents from the north side of the field, where Jones was sitting, had crossed the field to the other side to confront parents and coaches from the opposing team.

“It’s what we’re going to call, as soccer games go, a good, competitive game,” Hisaw said. “I turned around and in this short time frame, everybody’s on the field. We don’t know who said what first, and these things escalate quickly.”

Hisaw said he attempted to separate the parents and get everyone off the field, which was accomplished quickly with one exception: Jones remained on the field and refused to leave.

In his affidavit, Jones said he was trying to break up the group of people when Hisaw approached him, but Hisaw said he only saw Jones on his cell phone.

When Hisaw asked him to leave, Jones said he was an off-duty police officer calling in a potential assault on the field, but Jones makes no mention of an assault in his probable cause affidavit filed against Hisaw and Wheaton.

Jones also said in his affidavit that Hisaw pushed him, but Hisaw said he placed his arm on Jones’ shoulder and said they needed the field for the next game.

“He said, ‘Don’t touch me, I’m a police officer,’” Hisaw said. “We’d asked him to just step off to the parking lot. We never pushed him, we were never forceful, we were never aggressive.”

In the affidavit, Jones also claimed that Hisaw threatened to call UTPB police on Jones. However, Hisaw said he was just informing Jones as he was calling police that they normally call UTPB instead of OPD.

Jones also said in the affidavit that Hisaw and Wheaton were standing between Jones and the investigation, but Hisaw again said that Jones was the only parent still on the field after a few short minutes, and they weren’t standing between him and anything.

After a few minutes, Hisaw said four OPD cars with six officers arrived at the scene to investigate, and Hisaw said they were not allowed to kick Jones off the field.

However, no arrests were made on scene for interfering with public duties.

Two weeks later, Jones filed an arrest warrant for Hisaw and Wheaton, and the men would be arrested Saturday afternoon.

Temple said on the soccer field, all parents are supposed to follow what the referees say.

“I think that the guy that called backup and has caused all this, I think he took his job way out of context,” Temple said. “And I think that he’s trying to use the cop card way too far. It never needed to go to this.”

Warren Koepp, another board member, said it also presents a unique challenge for those refereeing the games.

“It is a very chilling thing that we can do our job and weeks later be carted off to jail,” Koepp said.

OPD Chief Tim Burton said most misdemeanor arrests occur at the time of the reported offense, but it’s not unusual for officers to obtain more information before seeking warrants.

Burton said the cases against Hisaw and Wheaton will continue to be prosecuted as the investigation will continue with regard to Jones.

Until that time, however, Burton said he stands behind Jones.

“As with any case that the officers are working, of course there is a presumption of validity to the action they take, unless there is information that surfaces otherwise,” Burton said. “I stand behind the actions of all our officers until such time as we develop information that indicates otherwise, that their behavior was somehow not consistent with our expectations.”

Burton said this case has not yet reached that level as the investigation has not yet been completed.