Rangers fan beaten after Winter Classic was Iraq war veteran

Neal Auricchio Jr. fought two tours in Iraq, returning to war even after a sniper blew apart one of his calf muscles.

But the 30-year-old Purple Heart winner and off-duty Woodbridge, N.J., police officer may never want to visit Philadelphia again.

With good reason.

Auricchio is the New York Rangers fan who was sucker-punched and beaten unconscious by three Flyers fans after the Winter Classic hockey game Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. The video of the beating went viral.

Auricchio and a friend were enjoying postgame cheesesteaks at Geno's in South Philadelphia when the unidentified Flyers fans bribed a squeegee guy to squirt the Rangers fans with his spray bottle, said Capt. Laurence Nodiff, commander of South Detectives.

"The guy goes up and does it, and then runs away," Nodiff said.

That's where the video picks up.

Wearing a No. 24 Ryan Callahan Rangers jersey, Auricchio stands surrounded by Flyers fans. He puts his hands out, as if trying to play peacemaker.

A man who looks to have about a one-foot height advantage on Auricchio removes his dark coat with white fur trim, uncovering his No. 28 Claude Giroux Flyers jersey.

He shoves Auricchio, who still has his hands out, and then throws a punch.

Auricchio throws back, punching up, but is quickly overwhelmed when a man in a No. 68 Jaromir Jagr jersey begins punching him, too. The two hit Auricchio about a dozen times as he lies on the ground.

When a Flyers fan tries to pull them off Auricchio, the man with No. 28 and two other men begin to beat another Rangers fan.

When Auricchio stumbles to that man's aid, No. 28 blindsides him with a punch, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

Some people yell, "Enough! Enough!" and, "Easy!" Someone else yells, "Go to sleep!"

No. 68 then kicks Auricchio. No. 28 steps over him and picks up his fur-trimmed coat.

Auricchio was treated at a New Jersey hospital for a concussion, said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, a longtime family friend. Auricchio has a stitched-up cut under one eye, and the other eye is still swollen nearly shut.

"He's still in a lot of pain," McCormac said. "He's starting to see out of the one eye, but we're waiting for the results of the CAT scan, hoping there's no damage we don't know about it."

Auricchio is married and welcomed his first child, Vincenzo, the week before Christmas.

He was shot by a sniper in Fallujah during his first tour in Iraq. He went back in 2007, the day after graduating from the Woodbridge Police Academy.

"This shouldn't happen to anyone," McCormac said. "But to a new father, a police officer, and an Iraqi war hero, it's pathetic."

McCormac said he visited Auricchio on Wednesday night at home.

"He's in good spirits," McCormac said. "He's an amazingly positive-minded young man."

The Rangers organization has contacted the family, McCormac said, and invited Auricchio to a practice and game when he feels better.

"We certainly don't condone fans' taking the rivalry into their own hands," said Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Flyers. "We hope the young man makes a full recovery, and we hope the actions of a few individuals do not put a scar on an otherwise terrific day for hockey in the city of Philadelphia."

Police spent Thursday tracking down potential leads posted on Flyers fan-page websites.

A fan posting under the name Edward Neary identified himself on the Broad Street Hockey Facebook page as one of the attackers.

"It was me and my friends do something about it," he wrote.

When someone remarked on the wisdom of bragging about his actions on a public forum, the fan posting as Neary wrote, "how dumb do I look knocking someone out pretty sure they look dumb eatin' concrete."

According to his Facebook profile, Edward Neary is a graduate of Father Judge High School and attends Community College of Philadelphia. His interests are listed as "Money" and "An More Money." Under favorite athlete, he listed, "Seriously I will punch you in the . . . face."

In later posts, Neary switched gears, saying he didn't do it but his friends did - naming names - and said the Rangers fans instigated the brawl.

Nodiff said investigators had been tracking down and interviewing the people named on the website. He would not say whether Neary had been interviewed and would not call him a suspect. Neary could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

"We are actively investigating all of those leads and have not eliminated anyone yet," Nodiff said.

Nodiff requested tipsters or anyone with additional footage of the attack - still photos or video - to contact South Detectives at 215-686-3013.