Carson Briere, the son of Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere, was granted 15 months of probation by an Erie County judge in connection with the incident in which he pushed a wheelchair up a staircase in March.
The video of the gesture caused heated debate on social networks, with many highlighting the lack of consideration shown by the now 24-year-old young man. On March 11, during a trip to a Pennsylvania bar, Brière and his friend Patrick Carrozzi rolled down the stairs owned by a disabled woman who had left the stairs to go to the bathroom. A police investigation ensued and the two Mercyhurst University students were criminally charged.
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They appeared Tuesday, according to the Erie Times-News. Your applications have been accepted for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, which is offered to individuals who have committed a non-violent first offense.
At the end of his 15 months of probation for a second-degree felony, the charges against Brière will be dropped and his record will be expunged.
In court, the man who was kicked off his university's ice hockey team apologized to Sydney Benes, who lost his legs in a car accident in 2021. His wheelchair was damaged when he fell on the stairs, a situation she described as “humiliating”.
Before her and the judge, Brière's lawyer explained that since the incident, his client had been volunteering for an ice hockey club for disabled veterans and had offered to pay for the damage caused to the wheelchair.
Brière is expected to begin his professional ice hockey career in Slovakia with HC 19 Humenne. He hasn't played since March 4, about ten days before video of the incident was posted on X (formerly Twitter).