Briere’s son suspended for throwing wheelchair down bar stairs
A Pennsylvania college suspended three student athletes from their teams Wednesday after they were identified on surveillance video in a stairwell where a woman’s wheelchair was thrown down the stairs.
Mercyhurst University announced about 7 p.m. Wednesday that they had conducted an initial investigation into the incident Saturday night at Sullivan’s Pub and Eatery in Erie and placed three students “on interim suspension” from their teams pending the outcome of an investigation.
One of the athletes already has been identified as Carson Briere, 23, a hockey player and son of former NHL star and current general manager for the Philadelphia Flyers team Danny Briere. Carson apologized in a statement Wednesday after the video went viral, gaining millions of views and generating widespread outrage.
The school’s investigation started Tuesday when a friend of the bilateral amputee who owned the wheelchair posted surveillance video on Twitter that showed three men motioning toward, or handling the wheelchair before it was tossed down a steep stairwell.
The woman had parked the wheelchair in the corner at the top of the stairwell while a security officer from the bar carried her to an employee restroom, which is located by the other restrooms downstairs. The bar, built in 1905, predates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires easier access to facilities.
The woman regularly visited Sullivan’s because of the support from employees, according to Nate Sanders, the head of security, who said he regularly assisted the woman and considers her a friend. Sanders
said he carried the woman to the restroom, and they both heard the sound of something crashing down the stairs. They thought a person might have fallen.
Instead, when Sanders walked around the corner to carry the woman back up the stairs, they saw her wheelchair at the bottom of the stairwell. Employees got her and her wheelchair back upstairs, where Sanders got her back into the damaged chair. It still could move, but sustained damage to the left brake, handles and alignment and possibly other damage, he said.
Knowing the bar has 30 security cameras, Sanders then headed directly to where the footage is stored to find out what happened. Within minutes, Sanders
had zeroed in on Briere and another man wearing a plaid shirt, who Sanders said plays for the Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse team.
According to the video: three men came up the stairs and gathered at the top of the stairwell. The first man motioned toward the wheelchair then Briere sat in it and tried to wheel it out of the stairwell. The first man then left. Briere stood up, and the man in the plaid shirt moved the wheelchair to the top of the stairs and kept his hand on it as Briere shoved it.
The student athlete wearing the plaid shirt played a role with Briere in shoving it down the stairs, Sanders said, but has not received the same attention as Briere.
Sanders then went looking for the men inside the
bar shortly after the incident. He found Briere first and ejected him from the bar.
“I told him, I saw you push that wheelchair. I have the video,” Sanders said.
Ten minutes later, Sanders found the man in the plaid shirt on the dance floor and ejected him too.
Sullivan’s typically has a strict policy of not releasing video footage, Sanders said, but the owners made an exception in this case. It had nothing to do with who the suspects were, Sanders said.
“It was just such a deplorable act,” he said. “Wheelchairs are meant to be durable, but they’re not meant to be thrown down the stairs.”
Part of Sullivan’s popularity
stems from the fact it’s considered a safe space with lots of cameras and security employees, Sanders said. And as a friend of the person who had their wheelchair damaged, he wanted to help keep her mobile by getting a new wheelchair as soon as possible so he started the fundraiser with the woman who posted the video on Twitter.
The wheelchair owner, who wants to remain anonymous, still has an “indoor” wheelchair for use at home, Sanders said, but their outside wheelchair with the shock-absorbing tires, is now damaged. The woman shouldn’t have to miss a beat or “‘deal with anyone of that,” Sanders said. “She did nothing wrong.”
The fundraiser stood at
nearly $8,000 Wednesday night. Any money raised above what it cost to outfit a new outdoor wheelchair will go to help other people who use wheelchairs, Sanders said.
Carson Briere previously was dismissed from Arizona State’s hockey club in 2019 for what the school called a violation of team rules. He is in his third season at Mercyhurst, which competes in Division I.