Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty cleared of wrongdoing after being accused of assault
Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty has been cleared by police of any wrongdoing after the actor portraying the mascot was accused of assaulting a 13-year-old boy, CBS Philly reported. Gritty was accused of punching the teen at a photo session in November.
Philadelphia police said Monday that they have completed their investigation of the alleged incident and "determined that the actions of the individual portraying the Flyers' mascot did not constitute physical assault as alleged."
The complaint, which was made December 21, alleged that Gritty punched the boy in the back during an event where fans could get their picture taken with Gritty at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The boy's father, Chris Greenwell, told CBS Philly that the alleged punch resulted in a $300 hospital bill.
"He keeps walking and then Gritty gets out of the chair and then lunges over and punches Brandon like that — in the bottom left side of his back," Greenwell told CBS Philly in January.
Greenwell in January also claimed on Facebook that Flyers tried to "bribe" him not to speak about the alleged incident.
"This article is 100% factual of the incident and the Wells Fargo Center refused to let me see the video of it and the police had to get involved in it to get it," Greenwell claimed. "They tried to get me to drop it by offering tickets and all I can drink passes at one of the bars there."
The Flyers said in a statement at the time that they "took Mr. Greenwell's allegations seriously and conducted a thorough investigation that found nothing to support this claim."
