After Sunday’s incident following the UC Davis game in which UCSB’s Peter McGlynn pushed the referee, the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office decided to press charges against McGlynn Tuesday afternoon.

McGlynn has been charged with a misdemeanor of battery against a sports official after he knocked referee Reed Christy to the ground with a two- handed shove. He was then arrested and escourted off the field in handcuffs.

“He feels he was assaulted by Mr. McGlynn and therefore, he has the right to ask for charges to be pressed,” UCPD Sergeant Rob Romero said.

UCSB was upset with a non-call by the officials against Davis, in which the team thought sophomore Austin Mansker was fouled on the play that led to the Aggies’ golden goal. The goal had playoff implications, nearly knocking the Gauchos out of playoff contention.

Initially, Christy did not plan on pressing charges, but decided the next day to go forward with charging McGlynn.

“It’s not uncommon that people change their minds and he’s well within his right to do so,” Romero said.

According to Gauchos head coach Tim Vom Steeg, Christy sustained no injuries as a result of the push.

“I’m not going to speak for him, but I did walk over and I said, ‘Are you okay?’” Vom Steeg said. “And he said, ‘Yeah I’m okay.’”

McGlynn faces a maximum punishment of a $2,000 fine and a year in county jail for the misdemeanor charge.

McGlynn made a statement via Twitter Tuesday, apologizing for his actions.

“I would just like to take this opportunity to express how deeply I regret the incident I was involved in on Sunday. My actions were completely my own and now I will accept the full consequences of the matter. Not only did I let myself and my family down, but also my team, the coaching staff, the athletic department, UCSB, the alumni, and everybody from the Santa Barbara community, and I would want to say to all involved of how very sorry I am.”

Moving forward, the next step for McGlynn will be going to court, which should happen in the next couple weeks.

“He’ll have to go to court to officially hear the charges against him and have him put a plea in of guilty or not guilty,” Romero said. “If he does decide to say he’s not guilty, then he will probably have to set up another court date with a hearing to see if there’s enough evidence to sustain a charge. If the court decides there is enough evidence, then they’ll set a trial date. Then again, all this could be handled outside the courtroom too. It’s all on how Mr. McGlynn answers to the charges.”

According to Romero, a negotiation could be settled if McGlynn decides to plead guilty or no contest.

“If he decided to plead guilty or no contest, there would have to be some type of negotiation between the district attorneys, and then probation and him deciding what type of punishment, if any, he would have to answer to,” Romero said.

On Monday, USCB athletic director Mark Massari announced McGlynn’s removal from the team. He has also been completely removed from the UCSB website. In addition, Massari also announced UCSB would forego any postseason opportunity, although it turns out UCSB would not have made the playoffs regardless. Vom Steeg was also suspended from yesterday’s game at Sacramento State.

“There’s a line,” Vom Steeg said after the game. “You can be upset and scream and yell and be frustrated. We all were, but nobody else on the team went [to McGlynn’s level].”