A Northern Ontario sports equipment store owner is raising money to help the man accused of allegedly throwing a beer can during the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays wild card game earlier this week.

Paul McLean, owner of Skater鈥檚 Edge Source for Sports North Bay, is making T-shirts with the hashtag #FreePagz on the front that are being sold for $10, with half of the money raised going to Ken Pagan鈥檚 legal fees.

Pagan is accused of throwing a beer can at Orioles鈥� left fielder Hyun Soo Kim in the seventh inning when the game was tied at 2-2. Almost immediately, social media from fans of both teams erupted in anger over the incident.

Pagan, a Postmedia employee, at one time worked for the North Bay Nugget as a sports writer. According to McLean, Pagan was a big contributor to minor sports in North Bay as well as a great athlete.

鈥淜en, to me, kind of helped bring to life the sports scene in North Bay and you just always saw him there,鈥� McLean told CTV Northern Ontario. 鈥淗e鈥檇 be running into hockey, he鈥檇 be the last guy to show up because he was on assignment somewhere.鈥�

McLean believes that the allegations are out of character for Pagan, which is why he鈥檚 raising money. However, some Facebook and Twitter users have voiced their displeasure after Skater鈥檚 Edge North Bay tweeted and posted a Facebook update about the availability of the T-shirts.

One person happy to support the cause is Adam Marceau, a former junior hockey player. Marceau said he used to deal with Pagan when he was working for the North Bay Nugget and was surprised when he found out that Pagan was allegedly involved.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure how to feel but either way, I support Pagz,鈥� said Marceau. 鈥淧eople make mistakes, if he is guilty. If not, then hopefully this clears up and he鈥檚 OK.鈥�

While the intent is to help Pagan with his legal defence bills, McLean has said that if Pagan is found guilty, he will instead double the amount of money raised and donate it to North Bay minor baseball.

In a statement obtained by CTV Toronto on Wednesday, Postmedia said that it was conducting its own investigation but had not reached any conclusions

on Wednesday night to tell them he was the man in the photograph that police released in relation to the incident but that he had not thrown the can. He then turned himself in to police on Thursday night and was charged with one count of mischief. He is expected to appear in court on Nov. 24.

With a report by CTV Northern Ontario's Joey Slattery