A 16-year-old student underwent surgery after being punched in the face during a Thursday night football game in Palm Beach Gardens.
The punch happened just one week after two people were shot outside a football game at Palm Beach Central.
The family of Michael Edwards says the teenager went into surgery Friday afternoon to fix a broken jaw.
Cody Edwards says his 16-year-old brother was punched coming out of the Benjamin School locker room Thursday night.
"Without any hesitation, he was struck, he was attacked, one punch to the chin. That punch broke his jaw, shattered his teeth," said Edwards.
The team was playing their rivals Glades Day.
"His teeth are actually pushed back so half of his teeth are up there where that should be and then half of his teeth are kind of pushed back into his mouth," said Edwards.
Police say Alex Mineo, a former Glades Day quarterback, is the one who threw the punch.
He was arrested for aggravated battery and drug possession.
According to an arrest report, Mineo told police he "noticed Edwards eyeing him."
Mineo then told police Edwards called him a name, and began to advance toward him, so he punched Edwards.
A parent told police he never saw Edwards walk toward Mineo. That same parent said he saw words exchanged between the two boys, but could not hear what was said.
"Multiple parents made it a point to come and talk to my dad and say there was no kind of provoking from my brother’s side," said Edwards.
Cody wants to stress, he and his family don't necessarily think the Benjamin School is at fault, but believe there needs to be more security for players.
"There should be some sort of barrier, even if it’s a police officer escorting the team to the field. At least security guard, something," said Edwards.
The head of The Benjamin School, Robert S. Goldberg, released a statement to WPTV:
"Within seconds of the incident, our armed security officer who was steps away, Palm Beach
Gardens Police and a school administrator rushed in to defuse the situation. The injured student
was immediately attended by paramedics who were also on-site. The student was taken by
ambulance to a local hospital.
"The Benjamin School has always prided itself with having the utmost concern for the safety of
our students. As a school, we continuously evaluate security measures to protect our students
and those who attend our events. Benjamin instituted armed security on both campuses in the
previous school year prior to the Parkland incident. After the recent altercation at Palm Beach
Central, we added additional local police presence on our campus."
Mineo graduated from Glades Day in 2018 and his address on the police report is listed as FAU's Boca Raton campus. We checked and he's not on the university's football roster.
