Police charged a 31-year-old student with felony first-degree assault Friday for his alleged role in shoving a parking enforcement officer to the ground during a dispute over a traffic ticket, University Police said.

The student, whom police identified as Gaithersburg resident Eugene Paul Krevinko, could face a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted of the charge. First-degree assault is the most serious charge police could file for this type of incident.

Krevinko was interviewed at the University Police station Friday, four days after the assault occurred, then taken to Hyattsville, where he was charged, police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said. He was released on bond the next day, court records show.

The victim, Transportation Services employee Toni Richardson, did not immediately seek medical attention after the attack but was later told her elbow was fractured and that she had sustained trauma to her sciatic nerve. She said Krevinko pushed her down then kicked her following a verbal altercation.

Krevinko did not return several messages left at his Gaithersburg home.

Richardson said she has not been able to return to work because her broken elbow interferes with driving the Transportation Services truck she uses to patrol parking lots, and she has been unable to return to her second job at Wawa on Knox Road, an employee said last night. Richardson said Thursday she will also file civil charges against Krevinko.

Atwell said police had reviewed the incident and considered it serious because of the reaction ticket writers sometimes receive when on the job.

“University Police are very concerned about this incident,” Atwell said. “Ticket writers are at risk because they are enforcing parking regulations by themselves, and sometimes people become angry with the enforcer over the regulations.”

Despite the large number of parking tickets that are issued, incidents such as last Monday’s are rare, Transportation Services Director David Allen said. He said Transportation Services employees are trained to avoid conflicts and that although people may not like tickets, issuing citations is one of the department’s most important functions.

“In my 21 years, this was my most significant assault that I can recall,” said Allen. “I am absolutely appalled at this gentleman’s actions and, you know, frankly I do hope that UMPD will deal with him in the most serious way.”

Contact reporter David Minsky at minskydbk@gmail.com.