US woman charged over inciting 500-person riot after skating rink cancels daughter’s birthday party
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Stephanie Pedroso, 36, took to social media and made an expletive-laden live video, encouraging followers to show up to the rink and “tear the place up”.
PHOTO: HSCOSHERIFF/X
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A woman in Florida has been charged with inciting a riot at a skating rink after she was unable to hold her teenage daughter’s birthday party there in May, US media reported.
Stephanie Pedroso, 36, was arrested on July 10 for allegedly orchestrating the chaos at Astro Skate in Hillsborough county on May 18, after the rink cancelled her booking.
She had made a reservation on May 14 for the May 17 event, but then failed to secure two off-duty deputies for the party, as agreed upon in the contract, leading to the cancellation, reported the Tampa Free Press.
Pedroso was issued a refund, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HSCO) said in a statement on July 11.
Despite this, Pedroso took to social media and made an expletive-laden live video on her daughter’s Instagram account, encouraging followers to show up to the rink and “tear the place up”.
She also claimed in the video that she had money and was willing to pay those who showed up to cause violence, said HSCO Sheriff Chad Chronister, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.
On May 18 at around 9.20pm, the HSCO Communications Centre received a call from an off-duty police officer that a large crowd of 500 people had shown up to Astro Skate, and that several violent fights had broken out, reported WZVN-TV, an affiliate of ABC News.
Once on scene, it took police officers nearly six hours to contain the behavior that led to one injury and five local businesses suffering damage.
The injured person was thrown through a barber shop’s glass window, reported the New York Post.
Officers eventually arrested 23 youngsters and three adults for the escalation of the chaos at the scene.
“Using social media to weaponise our youth is absolutely deplorable,” Sheriff Chronister said, according to WZVN-TV.
“As a parent, I cannot fathom what went through this woman’s mind when she put lives at risk to provoke this mayhem.”
Pedroso was charged with one count each of inciting a riot, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and driving with a licence suspended, cancelled, or revoked, the authorities announced.
The New York Post said she was released from detention on July 11 after posting a bond of US$2,500 (S$3,350), according to jail records.
