There's no crying in baseball, but out on Strong Island there are threatening letters. An area mom was arrested Saturday night and accused of sending a series of letters threatening violence to a little league coach and other league officials after her son was rejected from the travel team. Janet Chiauzzi, 44, from East Meadow, also allegedly sent a letter to the principal of an official's children's school, accusing the official of child molestation, Newsday reports (paywall).
Nassau County Child Protective Services looked into the child abuse allegations and determined that they were unfounded. Chiauzzi, whose son simply didn't have what it takes to make the elite travel team, allegedly sent six other letters to Little League officials demanding that the unidentified official be removed from his position. And in her letter to the official, she also threatened his wife and children, identifying them by name.
Chiauzzi is charged with stalking, falsely reporting an incident, endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated harassment. Reached for comment by Newsday, Edward Bergman, an association commissioner at the East Meadow Baseball Softball Association, put himself in the running for the Understatement of the Year award by telling the paper, "It got a little bit personal."
