Attleboro Mayor Supports Police Chief After Ice Rink Grapple

ATTLEBORO, MA — A video of Attleboro's off-duty police chief seen shoving a teenager out of an ice rink Wednesday night has surfaced on social media, causing quite the controversy.

Many have raised concerns about Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney's actions, but Mayor Paul Heroux says he supports the chief's decisions.

The video, which was filmed by several witnesses, was given to WPRI news, showing hockey players, students, and referees coming off the ice as players begin to shout at one another at the New England Sports Arena in Attleboro.

Chaos erupted and fighting was sparked after a game between Norton and Dighton-Rehoboth-Seekonk, with Norton losing 3-1, and WPRI confirming Heagney's son played on the losing team.

One 17-year-old student was not on the hockey team and was pushed and told to leave by a teenage girl. Investigators say the 17-year-old continued yelling at a referee instead, causing off-duty Heagney to take action.

Heagney was there for his son's ice hockey game and dressed in plain clothes in the video. Once he saw the chaotic scene, he shoved the teenager into the hockey rink door, pulled out his badge, and put it in the teenager's face, the video shows.

Another student tried to intervene, but Heagney pushed them and a rink employee as well, shoving his badge in their faces.

"He's the chief of police," an off-camera observer was reported saying by WPRI amid the shoving.

"He was putting hands on our kids," the person was heard responding when another onlooker asked what had happened, WPRI said.

Another video shows Heagney struggling with the first teenager, eventually handcuffing him on the ground. Attleboro police confirmed he was charged with disorderly conduct and will appear in juvenile court in the upcoming weeks.

Due to the nature of the ordeal, Mayor Heroux told WJAR he had watched the video more than 25 times, five to ten of those times with Heagney who explained his decisions frame by frame.

"Based on the two videos that I've seen and the chief's explanation for every split second of that video, I don't see any reason for discipline at this point," Heroux told WJAR.

Heagney thought the teen was going to get physical with the referee and became belligerent after the chief showed him his badge, Heroux said. "He was just trying to protect the ref," WJAR reported Heroux adding.

"Once the 17-year-old was under arrest, and it was just the police chief and the 17-year-old were out of the chaos of what was going on, the police chief described the kid as a having calm down," Heroux told WJAR. "And once he was out of that mob mentality, he seemed like a very reasonable, respectful kid."

Patch has reached out to Heagney for comment but has not heard back.

Heroux said he felt the chief was acting reasonably, but added to WJAR that if new video or evidence surfaces, he will revisit the issue.

"From what I can see, the chief did not act unreasonably, he was concerned about the referee and the manner in which this kid was very close to the referee, and everyone was telling him to go away," the mayor told WJAR.