Mercyhurst’s Carson Briere charged in wheelchair pushing incident

Mercyhurst hockey player Carson Briere is facing three misdemeanor charges stemming from a video of him and another athlete pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a set of stairs inside a bar.

Erie, Penn. police filed charges of criminal mischief, criminal conspiracy to commit mischief and disorderly conduct against Briere, the son of Flyers interim GM Daniel Briere.

Patrick Carrozzi, a senior on the Lakers lacrosse team, faces the same charges.

The student-athletes were caught on surveillance video at Sullivan’s Pub and Eatery in Erie, pushing a wheelchair owned by double amputee Sydney Benes down a set of stairs on March 11.

According to police, Briere, 23, and Carrozzi posed a potential danger to anyone coming up the stairs, while also creating a hazardous condition by blocking the staircase.

They also damaged the chair’s left brake handle, broke the right arm rest’s plastic molding, bent a rear handle and caused the wheels to drag when moving forward, according to Benes.

A GoFundMe to help Benes fix her chair — she says it was purchased a year ago for $2,000 — has raised $8,811 as of Monday evening, though she does not plan on keeping it.

“I swear I really don’t wanna keep a cent of the donated money, I’d much rather give it to those who need it,” she said, before later adding she’ll keep enough to repair her wheelchair.

Benes also said bouncers at the bar forced Briere to apologize, though she found his attempt “insincere.”

Mercyhurst has since suspended Briere and two other student-athletes, while Sullivan’s banned the hockey player from the premises.

“I am deeply sorry for my behavior on Saturday,” Briere, a junior, said in a statement after video of the incident went viral on social media.

“There is no excuse for my actions, and I will do whatever I can to make up for this serious lack of judgment.”

Danny Briere, who was promoted to run the Flyers after Chuck Fletcher was fired two weeks ago, said he was shocked to see his son’s actions and called them “inexcusable,” while saying his son “accepts full responsibility for his behavior.”

Mercyhurst previously released a statement saying the actions displayed in the video fall short of the school’s “belief in the inherent dignity of each person,” adding the school’s “tradition also reminds us that students and all people who make poor choices deserve opportunities to learn, change behaviors and atone for harmful actions.”

Carson Briere previously was dismissed from Arizona State’s hockey club in 2019 for what the school called a violation of team rules.

— With AP