Polish CEO in viral US Open hat grab apologizes to child

A Polish businessman who went viral after a video caught him snatching the cap of a tennis player from a child at the US Open has apologized, saying that he had been "caught up in the heat of the moment."

A video circulating on social media shows landscape and paving company CEO Piotr Szczerek snatching Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak's hat, which he was handing to the crowd and which a child right in front of him had been reaching for.

Majchrzak, whose head had been turned away, appeared not to notice the moment, which quickly made the rounds on the Internet. Szczerek was identified and excoriated online, both in Poland and abroad.

In his Instagram Stories Majchrzak later met up with his young fan and presented him with gifts, including a similar cap shown in the viral video.

In a statement on his Facebook page, meanwhile, Szczerek apologized for his "extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions."

"It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan. I became caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory, and I believed Majchrzak was handing a hat to me to give to my sons, who had previously asked for autographs. Regardless of what I believed was happening, the actions I took hurt the young boy and disappointed the fans," he said in a statement that was posted in English and in Polish. 

"I have sent the hat back to the boy and extended my sincere apologies to his family. I hope, at least to a small extent, I was able to repair the harm I caused."

Szczerek also denied issuing a previous statement attributed to him that had warned that "insulting a public figure is subject to legal liability."

"All statements appearing online accredited to us were false and were not authored by us or our representatives," he said.

Majchrzak has been praised for meeting up with his young fan after the event. The 29-year-old tennis player, ranked 76th in the world in men's singles, retired in the third round due to injury. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/BM, GMA Integrated News