Search Continues for Soccer Players Accused of Assaulting Referee

CLEARWATER, FL -- The individuals believed to be involved are still wanted by authorities after they were originally misidentified, Clearwater Police said Sunday night.

Timothy Kerr, 31, and Dale Lewis, 33, are being sought by police after they allegedly assaulted a referee over a call during a club soccer game at Joe DiMaggio Fields.

Authorities had been originally looking for two men named Ramone Mitchell and Omar Anderson in a white Mercedes. The soccer league's rules require players to show an ID card, police said, but because the suspects provided false league cards, the league and teammates had inaccurate names for the players.

"At one point in the search for the suspects, police pulled over a white Mercedes but the names on the identifications given to police did not match the names of the two suspects," City of Clearwater spokesperson Joelle Castelli wrote in a media release. The suspects were released, and police are still working to relocate them.

Authorities said the referee fell to the ground after being punched Sunday and suffered serious shoulder injuries.

The referee, who has not been identified, was taken to a local hospital.