Hockey Parent Charged with Attack on 14-Year-Old Player

A Delray Beach chiropractor is accused of hitting a 14-year-old on his head and slamming him against a glass wall at a hockey game after he thought the boy elbowed his son.

Matthew Supran, 44, of suburban Boca Raton, was arrested at his medical office in Delray Beach Wednesday on a charge of cruelty toward a child. He was released from the Palm Beach County Jail later that day after posting a $3,000 bond.

The boy, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds, sustained a concussion, according to his father. Supran is listed on the probable cause affidavit as 6 feet 3 inches tall and 230 pounds.

The hockey game was Sunday afternoon at Palm Beach Skate Zone at 8125 Lake Worth Road. A 14-year-old boy told Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies he accidentally elbowed Supran's son, who was on the other team. A referee called a penalty and the 14-year-old said Supran came onto the ice and punched the boy in his face. He then slammed his head against the glass wall, and the referees and coaches had to get Supran off the boy, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The teen's mother and stepfather told a deputy they saw Supran run across the ice, hit the boy on his head and then slam him against the glass. They said Supran also shoved the boy to the ground.

Tristan Dresselt, a referee who said he helped get Supran off the boy, told police the teen received a five-minute penalty, but the play that caused the penalty wasn't malicious. Supran's son fell to the ground while Supran ran across the ice and hit the teen. The referee said Supran grabbed the boy's face mask and slammed his head into the boards, then fell on top of him.

"Everyone thought he was coming on the ice to help his son," said the 14-year-old's father. "Instead, he stepped over his son and punched my son in the face."

The 14-year-old has been plagued by headaches since the incident and had to come home early from school twice this week, his father said.

State records show Supran has been a licensed chiropractor since September 1998 and has no discipline or public complaints on file.

Staff writer Jorge Milian contributed to this story. [email protected] Twitter: @alexseltzer