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Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty, accused of assaulting 13-year-old fan

PHILADELPHIA — A man has accused the mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team of assaulting his teenage son, authorities said.

According to KYW-TV, Chris Greenwell said the mascot, named Gritty, punched his 13-year-old son, Brandon, during a November fan photo event at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.

After posing for a photo with the mascot, the boy tapped Gritty’s head, Greenwell said.

“[Brandon] keeps walking, and then Gritty gets out of the chair and then lunges over and punches Brandon ... in the bottom left side of his back,” Greenwell told KYW.

Greenwell said Brandon’s back was bruised in the incident, according to The New York Times.

“All I wanted [the team] to do was give my son an apology,” Greenwell said in an interview with the Delaware News Journal. He also wanted the Flyers to pay for the boy’s medical bills and “do something special to make up for it,” he said.

Instead, the Flyers proposed giving him a one-game ticket upgrade, said Greenwell, who ended up filing a police report Dec. 21. Philadelphia police are investigating the allegations, the News Journal reported.

The team said in a statement that it “took Mr. Greenwell’s allegations seriously and conducted a thorough investigation that found nothing to support this claim,” according to the newspaper.