Free Gritty: Justice Has Been Served As Philly Police Cleared Gritty's Name From The Assault Allegations
6ABC - Philadelphia police say Gritty did not physically assault a teen during a photo session last year and charges will not be pursued.
The complaint was lodged back in December when the father of a 13-year-old boy told police that the Philadelphia Flyers mascot assaulted his son during a photoshoot at the Wells Fargo Center a month prior.
Police said an investigation was completed by the South Detective Division. Officials said the results of the investigation determined the mascot did not commit physical assault as alleged.
To be totally honest...I'm a little disappointed. Not because the incident didn't occur--I generally believe that it's better for mascots to not assault 13-year-old children than to go ahead and assault them. But for the fact that this case won't get a chance to make it to court. I was so excited for that legal battle as soon as the allegations came out.
For starters, I've never gotten to cover a court case before so this was something I wanted to check off my journalistic bucket list. And secondly, I'm almost certain at this point that they would have literally brought Gritty in to court. Not just the guy who wears the Gritty costume, but the full Gritty experience. Imagine the sketches to come out of that. This case would have been right up there with Roe v Wade in terms of overall impact and significance.
But I understand it was a little selfish for me to wish for those things. So for now, I'm just happy to know that justice is still alive and well in this world. Gritty ain't done shit and now his name is cleared. We almost lost an innocent man to nothing more than a series of wild accusations and fantastic lies. I just hope everyone is able to have a moment of self-reflection today if you saw the original story and immediately rushed to presume Gritty as guilty. Shame on all of you.
Next Flyers home game is Thursday night against New Jersey. You know for a goddamn fact that Gritty is going to be on one that night.
P.S. - They don't call him The Best One for no reason.
P.P.S. - On second thought, Gritty still might want to lay low for a little. I know he got cleared from this charge but he still might have a few priors out there.