BRANDON, Fla. — Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced the arrest of a woman who is accused of inciting a "riot" outside Astro Skate in Brandon in May.
HCSO detectives said that 36-year-old Stephanie Pedroso entered into a contract with Astro Skate on May 14 to host an after-hours birthday party for her daughter. They said she shared the event on her daughter's social media, which got hundreds of likes.
HCSO said she didn't get the required off-duty deputies for that party, so Astro Skate canceled the reservation on May 17, and Pedroso was given a refund.
Deputies said Pedroso then went on social media and, in a live Instagram video, told people to go to Astro Skate on the night of the party anyway.
"She encourages people over the next 24 hours to continue to show up, let's stress them out, let's cause destruction, let's cause violence, let's cause a large disturbance," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
Some of the statements Pedroso made on the live feed, according to HCSO, were, “If y’all still go up there, tear the [expletive] out of them. I’ve got some money for y’all, and I’ll pay y’all [expletive],” and “I hope everybody still show up and tear this [expletive] up tomorrow.”
Pedroso was arrested and charged with inciting a riot and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Approximately 400 to 500 people gathered at the Astro Skate parking lot on May 18.
HCSO said it took deputies almost six hours to break up the crowd, which led to one person being hurt and five local businesses being damaged. They said deputies arrested 23 teens and three adults.
"Right after the incident happened, we had extra security for a few weeks to make sure we were good," said Chris Maganias, the owner of Astro Skating Centers.
Maganias explained there were other reasons the party was canceled.
"She didn't get approval of the flier, [because] she's supposed to get our approval, because again, that's our name, you can put all sorts of nonsense," said Maganias. "Second thing she didn't do was she was reselling tickets, which on our contract says you can't resell tickets for more money."
Now, they're focused on getting back to business.
"We tell everybody, if you want to skate and have a good time, we'd love to take your money, but we can't have violence," said Maganias.
"They need to be aware that they’re putting families at risk”
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