Florida couple arrested after pickleball match turns into a brawl

The beef began over a cardinal rule of pickleball: A Florida man accused his opponent of playing a shot in a restricted rectangle on the court known as the kitchen.

From there, the match between two husband-and-wife teams descended into an exchange of verbal insults and chaos on Feb 8 at Spruce Creek Country Club in Port Orange, Florida, about 19km south-west of Daytona Beach, Florida, authorities said.

Fists flew; a paddle was used as a weapon; and 20 people joined the fracas, according to the sheriff’s office in Volusia County, which charged the husband and wife from one of the teams with felony battery.

The melee was described in explicit detail in an arrest affidavit.

Three people were injured during the fight, one of whom was transported to a hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises on his face, wrote a deputy who responded to the club.

“All three stated they had been participating in a pickleball match and were assaulted by members of the opposing team,” wrote the deputy, Tiecha West.

The couple who instigated the fight fled the club for their gated condominium on the beach, about 19km away in Ponce Inlet, Florida, and were later arrested, according to the affidavit.

They were identified by the sheriff’s office as Anthony Sapienza, 63, and Julianne Sapienza, 51.

Anthony Sapienza was charged with two counts of felony battery on a person 65 years or older, and one count of aggravated battery causing bodily harm, which, if convicted, carry maximum sentences of five years in prison on the first charge and 15 years for aggravated battery.

Julianne Sapienza was charged with one count of felony battery on a person 65 years or older.

Mr Matthew W. Thompson, a lawyer for Anthony Sapienza, said in an e-mail on Feb 13 that his client had pleaded not guilty.

“There is far more to this story than what has been alleged, and we are confident that the facts will ultimately demonstrate his innocence,” Mr Thompson said. “We will vigorously defend him against these accusations.”

A lawyer for Julianne Sapienza did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Feb 13.

According to West, the match became heated when Anthony Sapienza accused his opponent of a rules violation.

“The ‘kitchen’ is the area extending seven feet from both sides of the net to each sideline and is restricted to prevent players from standing at the net and smashing the ball downward,” West wrote in the affidavit.

At one point during the match, Anthony Sapienza used a misogynistic vulgarity to describe his opponent’s wife, which her husband took exception to, the arrest affidavit said.

The situation reached a boil from there, according to the deputy, who said that the man told him that Anthony Sapienza “then approached him and punched him on the left side of the face and struck him with a pickleball paddle, causing significant bleeding”.

Pickleball paddles resemble those used in table tennis, only they are larger and heavier.

Sapienza continued punching the other man after both fell to the ground, the man’s wife told the deputy. The man was taken to a hospital and was expected to have permanent scarring from his injuries, West wrote.

When the man’s wife ran to check on her husband, Sapienza pushed her to the ground, investigators said.

Another man was punched in the nose by Sapienza after the man tried to pull Sapienza away, according to the affidavit, which said that man was 70 years old.

His nose was bleeding profusely, according to West, who said that Julianne Sapienza began yelling at the man and also punched him.

Matt Payne, the general manager of Spruce Creek Country Club, said in an interview on Feb 13 that many people had been seeking video of the brawl, but one did not exist.

He said that the couple who were arrested did not belong to the club, which has about 550 members, and that the match was part of a league from outside.

“They have been banned from the community for life,” he said. NYTIMES