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The incident happened Sunday, May 21, on Long Island, near the Greenlawn Skatepark in Suffolk County.
Video shared on Facebook shows an adult baseball player attempting to grab something out of the teen’s pocket before he grabs the victim by his bicycle helmet and slams him into a railing.
The video then shows the teen swinging at the man’s head as he attempts to break free from his grip. The suspect attempts to slam the boy onto the ground but is unsuccessful.
“Woah woah he’s a (expletive) teenager” a bystander is heard saying.
“He’s a minor,” yells another man.
The fight was eventually broken up by another teenager and one of the suspect’s fellow ball players.
Moments later, the man is seen picking up the boy’s bicycle and throwing it.
In a statement to Daily Voice, Suffolk County Police identified the suspect as 36-year-old Andrew Chiaro, of Massapequa.
Recounting the incident on Facebook, Sean Ageman, of East Meadow, said the altercation started when the teen made comments on how Chiaro was playing.
“The adult featured in this video couldn’t handle that the minor was making fun of how bad he was at baseball,” Ageman said. “So he decided to make it a physical situation.”
Chiaro was arrested the following Thursday, May 25, after police determined that he assaulted the boy while attempting to retrieve a baseball.
The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Chiaro was charged with third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was expected to be arraigned in Suffolk County Court at a later date.
He has also been suspended from league play for ten games, and his team is banned from playing in Huntington town parks, CBS News reports.
"The town has a zero tolerance policy for any kind of violence in our parks or in our athletic fields,” Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth told the outlet.
“To watch the video, it was absolutely absurd and unacceptable to see an adult going after a child like that.”
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