A scuffle last summer between a hockey mom and a teenage referee on Neville Island is about to be wiped off the books.
Police in July 2025 charged Andrea Bucci, 39, of Franklin Park, with misdemeanor counts of assault on a sports official and simple assault after she confronted a 16-year-old referee at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Complex.
Bucci was banned from the ice rink after pushing the referee who had just ejected her son from a youth hockey game for unsportsmanlike conduct, police said.
In March, Bucci entered a pre-trial intervention program designed for first-time, non-violent offenders, court records show. Instead of going to trial or serving a jail sentence, Bucci was placed on probation and ordered to take part in counseling and community service.
“We’ve all had those moments in our life — she was protective of her child,” attorney Phil DiLucente, who represented Bucci, told TribLive Thursday.
“We all know hockey’s a tough sport and fans can be tough at times, too,” DiLucente added. “Is she someone who wished this never happened? Absolutely. But she never had the intent to hurt anyone — nor did she. This is more about hurt feelings.”
Under the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program, all charges against Bucci are set to be expunged from court records June 22, her criminal docket sheet shows.
Bucci remains barred from attending events or games at the sports complex, DiLucente said.
Neither police nor Robert Morris University officials responded to phone calls or emails this week seeking comment.
A video clip
Last year, DiLucente maintained the referee touched his client first during a three-on-three club game. A 25-second video clip the attorney provided TribLive to review appeared to bear that out.
The July 20, 2025 footage shows a woman, who DiLucente identified as his client, hustling down a short set of stairs to the rink door as the uniformed referee leads a player wearing blue and yellow off the ice.
Bucci steps into the doorway and begins pointing and speaking to the official. As he tries to close the rink door, she gets in the way, gesticulating, and prevents it from being shut.
The referee pushes her back with one hand, but Bucci stands her ground, grabbing the door with one hand and the dasher boards with the other.
Bucci kicks her right leg out, pushes against the referee’s shoulder with one hand and, with the other, makes contact with his neck area.
The referee says something and points as Bucci turns and walks away and up the stairs.
She throws up her hands and shakes her head, then turns around and descends the stairs again as the two argue. Finally, the referee closes the door as a second referee watches from the ice.
What the two said to each other during the confrontation could not be determined from the video.
What set it off
The incident occurred after Bucci’s son, whom authorities did not name, was accused of blindsiding a player from the opposing team, according to a criminal complaint.
The boy, a juvenile whose age was not listed in the complaint, stayed back during the altercation but appeared to motion with his hand to his mother to move away.
“The aggressor, according to the video, is not my client,” DiLucente said in 2025.
Online records show no previous arrests for Bucci. The Franklin Park woman declined an interview for this story.