Police investigating claim Flyers mascot Gritty punched teen

A Philadelphia Flyers season ticket holder is claiming his son was punched by team mascot Gritty, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to Chris Greenwell, he and his son, Brandon, 13, had been invited to meet the NHL mascot at a season ticket holder event Nov. 19.

The incident happened after the father and son had a photo taken with Gritty, according to Greenwell. He told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Brandon playfully patted Gritty on the head and as Brandon walked away, Gritty “took a running start” and punched Brandon “as hard as he could.”

Officials at Comcast Spectacor, the company that owns the Flyers, claimed it investigated the alleged incident, which included interviews with Gritty and “Gritty’s handler,” but couldn’t verify Greenwell’s account, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Officials also said there was no video footage of the alleged incident.

Greenwell said he took Brandon to a chiropractor about a week after the incident and the chiropractor noted that his son suffered from mild pain and diagnosed him with a back bruise, according to documents from the chiropractor, provided to The Philadelphia Inquirer by Greenwell.

Greenwell reported the incident to Philadelphia police about a month after the alleged punch. A police spokesperson on Tuesday described the case as an alleged “physical assault.”

“The investigation is active and on-going,” police said of the situation.