Game's End

The parents of a boy who entered an elderly neighbor’s home in the La Presa neighborhood of eastern Tijuana in search of his soccer ball ended up in jail on homicide charges after a fight broke out between the neighbor and the boy’s father.

Nearby residents called police on Sunday afternoon, February 22, to report a fight, authorities said. Witnesses told police that a boy, whose name and age were not made public, had entered the home of 79-year-old Celestino Contreras Martínez to retrieve his soccer ball. Contreras, apparently angered that the youngster had entered his house without permission, hit the boy with his cane.

When the youngster’s parents learned what happened, they went next door to confront Contreras, according to press reports. The boy’s dad, 35-year-old Salvador Paz Nolasco, punched the older man, who then fell. When Contreras fell, his head struck the floor, which apparently killed him.

Police arrested both of the boy’s parents on suspicion of homicide.