3 Santa Rosa Growlers ice hockey players arrested in Reno on suspicion of sexual assault, removed from team

Three Santa Rosa Growlers team members were arrested Saturday in Nevada on suspicion of sexual assault, according to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office booking logs.|
ALANA MINKLER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Resources to combat sexual abuse, support survivors

Verity: Sonoma County’s rape, crisis and trauma center, www.ourverity.org, 707-545-7273

Sonoma County Family Justice Center: www.fjcsc.org, 707-565-8255

ValorUS: formerly California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a statewide coalition of rape crisis centers committed to ending sexual violence that has a California Rape Crisis Center Directory, www.valor.us

Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists: www.recamft.org

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673, online.rainn.org/online

Three members of the Santa Rosa Growlers ice hockey team were arrested Saturday in Nevada on suspicion of sexual assault, according to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office booking logs, and have since been removed from the team.

Dominic Jones, 34; Josiah Nikkel, 30; and Moses Matthews III, 33, were arrested by Reno Police Department officers and charged with sexual assault.

Matthews III was charged separately for suspicion of unlawful dissemination of an intimate image, in addition to suspicion of capturing, distributing or displaying an image of a private area of another person, according to booking logs.

Following their arrest, the three have been permanently removed from the team, according to Blake Johnson, the team captain.

“We the Santa Rosa Growlers, want to express our deepest sympathies to the victim of a crime that occurred in Reno last weekend,” Johnson said Wednesday afternoon in a news release.

The Senior A ice hockey team, made up of adult amateur players whose junior eligibility ran out at age 21, plays its home games at Snoopy’s Home Ice in Santa Rosa.

The team was in Reno for two games Friday and Saturday against the Reno Ice Raiders, according to their game schedule. The three were arrested around 3:40 p.m. ahead of their Saturday game scheduled for 8 p.m.

“Finding the right words for this is nearly impossible,” Johnson said. “We’re still trying to gather any information and process it all ourselves.”

The three Growlers players traveled to Reno on their personal time a day before last weekend's games and were involved in an incident Thursday night, Johnson said.

The actions of Jones, Nikkel and Matthews III “very strongly violate“ the Santa Rosa Growlers Code of Conduct, according to Johnson.

“The team was not informed of the incident or details prior to our first game on Friday and we regret that these players were allowed to play for us that evening,” Johnson said. “We as a team and a club do not take sexual assault or any of the charges lightly and this news is both shocking and deeply concerning for all parties involved and their families.”

Santa Rosa Growlers Statement

We, the Santa Rosa Growlers, want to express our deepest sympathies to the victim of an alleged incident that occurred in Reno last week. Finding the right words for this is nearly impossible. We’re still trying to gather any information and process it all ourselves. What we do know is that three players travelled to Reno on their personal time a day early before the weekend’s games and were allegedly involved in an incident that Thursday night. The team was not informed of this or any details prior to our first game on Friday and we regret that these players played that evening. They were then arrested on sexual assault charges on Saturday prior to our 2nd game. One of them had additional charges pertaining to documenting/sharing the incident. We as a team and a club do not take sexual assault, or any of the charges, lightly and this news is both shocking and deeply concerning for all parties involved and their families. While their actions are still currently under investigation, all three players have been permanently removed from the team. While we understand the charges of these three individuals will often be talked about in the same breath as our team’s name, we’d like to clarify that we are a recreational club team, not a professional team, and there is no place for this type of alleged behavior in hockey culture, our club’s culture, or any culture. If you have any questions we’d like to make ourselves available. You can reach us at: Info@santarosagrowlers.com

Posted by Santa Rosa Growlers on Saturday, February 12, 2022

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.

Resources to combat sexual abuse, support survivors

Verity: Sonoma County’s rape, crisis and trauma center, www.ourverity.org, 707-545-7273

Sonoma County Family Justice Center: www.fjcsc.org, 707-565-8255

ValorUS: formerly California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a statewide coalition of rape crisis centers committed to ending sexual violence that has a California Rape Crisis Center Directory, www.valor.us

Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists: www.recamft.org

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673, online.rainn.org/online

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor