As court date looms, Briere dismissed from Mercyhurst hockey team

Carson Briere was dismissed from the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team, the school announced Monday.

The decision to remove Brier, a son of Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager Daniel Briere, from the program comes a little more than three weeks after a video posted to social media showed Briere and another Mercyhurst student-athlete pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a staircase.

The March 11 video shows that Briere, a junior, was speaking with two people at a local bar. They were at the top of the bar's staircase next to the empty wheelchair. Briere momentarily sat in the wheelchair before standing up and pushing the wheelchair down a flight of stairs, then walking into the bar.

Briere and Patrick Carrozzi, who plays for Mercyhurst's lacrosse team, were charged March 20 with three misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, criminal conspiracy to commit mischief and disorderly conduct. They are scheduled to appear in court May 22.

Briere later provided a statement to ESPN in which he said he was "deeply sorry" for his behavior while adding "there is no excuse for my actions."

Sydney Benes, who was identified as the owner of the wheelchair, filed a complaint. In her complaint, Benes stated that the fall down the stairs damaged her wheelchair'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. Benes said the wheelchair cost $2,000 when it was purchased a year earlier. Days after the incident, Mercyhurst said Briere, Carrozzi and the third person on the video were all student-athletes and were all suspended.

Mercyhurst, an Erie, Pennsylvania, school and member of Division I's Atlantic Hockey Association, also said in its statement released Monday on Twitter that it would not provide any further comment.

Briere, 23, just completed his third season at Mercyhurst, appearing in 30 games. His father, 45, played 17 seasons in the NHL.

After the incident, Daniel Briere, issued a statement saying, "I was shocked to see Carson's actions in the video that was shared on social media yesterday. They are inexcusable and run completely counter to our family's values on treating people with respect. Carson is very sorry and accepts full responsibility for his behavior."