The fan who allegedly threw a drink onto the field during the 7th inning of Tuesday’s Blue Jays-Orioles game in Toronto has been identified, and it reportedly is a journalist whose own newspaper ironically was offering a reward for anyone who helped identify the culprit.
TSN’s Rick Westhead shared information about the fan, a journalist named Ken Pagan:
Journalist Ken Pagan, PostMedia employee, ID'd by TSN as man in Toronto police photo related to beer-chucking at Jays game. @TSN_Sports
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 6, 2016
PostMedia has declined to confirm Pagan is an active employee. He has deleted his Twitter acct, which included posts from Tuesday Jays game.
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 6, 2016
The Toronto Sun newspaper, owned by PostMedia, where Pagan works, was offering a $1,000 fine award to anyone who ID’s the beer tosser.
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 6, 2016
Police sent out this tweet with a photo of their suspect, who was ID’d as Pagan.
Pls RT~Man to ID for tossing beer can on field at @RogersCentre #WildCard game @BlueJays @Orioles~Info call Toronto Police 416-808-5200 ^sm pic.twitter.com/f9JrRLeXPJ
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) October 5, 2016
Pagan was contacted by the Toronto Sun, a newspaper for whom he used to work. He was advised by his lawyer not to give his story yet, though he does seem to suggest he’s been falsely accused.
“I was drinking out of a cup,” Pagan told the Sun. “I’d love to tell you what happened and my story … but I can’t say anything.”
Pagan apparently spoke with police and made arrangements to turn himself in. He had tweeted from the game but deleted his account.
The Toronto beer throwing incident has taken a weird turn…this Ken Pagan guy is the suspect pic.twitter.com/Wavms1roIK
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) October 6, 2016
The incident reflected poorly on Blue Jays fans and led the team to issue an apology to the Orioles. It also was not the first time a Jays fan had recently thrown a drink at an Orioles player.
