A St. Catharines grandfather has been charged with assaulting a referee who officiated his grandson's peewee hockey game.

A 68-year-old man faces one count of assault after an altercation outside Bill Burgoyne Memorial Arena on Feb. 4, says Det. Sgt. Dave Pierini of Niagara Regional Police Service.

The man was at a peewee hockey game, watching hockey players around 11 years old. One of them was his grandson.

The man apparently became irate with the 26-year-old referee. Pierini says the referee was assaulted in the rear parking lot of the arena around 11:30 a.m.

Pierini wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the assault, except to say that the referee called police to say it had happened.

Police put out a call and witnesses came forward. That's when investigators found that "the referee's story was accurate."

A man will appear in court on April 27.