A 36-year-old woman from Florida has been jailed after police say she purposely incited a 400 to 500-person riot at a local skating rink when the business canceled her teen daughter’s birthday party for breach of contract.
Stephanie Pedroso was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of inciting a riot, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and driving with a suspended, canceled, or revoked license, authorities said.
“Using social media to weaponize our youth is deplorable,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister stated in a release. “As a parent, I cannot fathom what went through this woman’s mind when she put lives at risk to provoke this mayhem.”
According to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office news release, deputies responded to a call from an off-duty deputy at about 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, reporting that over 500 people were at the Astro Skate in Brandon, Florida, and that many fights had already broken out. The firm is located approximately 245 miles northwest of Miami.
Upon arrival, numerous deputies took nearly six hours to manage the melee, resulting in the arrest of 23 adolescents and three adults for “the escalation of chaos at the scene.” Additionally, the sheriff’s office reported that one person was hurt and five local businesses were damaged during the violence.
According to deputies, Pedroso incited the brawl, which was primarily made up of youths, after Astro Skate canceled her daughter’s birthday party. Pedroso and Astro Skate signed a contract on May 14 that required the facility to throw an “after-hours birthday party” for her girls on May 17, according to the release. The contract required Pedroso to secure a specified number of off-duty deputies.
Pedroso then posted the occurrence on her daughter’s social media sites, which, according to officials, “gained considerable attention and hundreds of likes.”
However, the sheriff’s office stated that Pedroso “failed to secure the required off-duty deputies” for the party, implying that she had breached the contract with Astro Skate. As a result, the company canceled Pedroso’s reservation and refunded her on May 17.
“That’s when Pedroso used her daughter’s social media to make a live video encouraging friends to show up to inflict violence in the community, which included many of the businesses around Astro Skate,” according to the announcement. “In the Instagram live video stream, Pedroso could be heard making multiple violent and vulgar statements as well as numerous racial slurs.”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, a juvenile was tossed through the plate glass window of a barber shop near the skating rink, while rioters broke into and looted a 7-Eleven across the street, costing approximately $500 in damage.
“I want to be clear: using social media to encourage people to riot and destroy businesses is completely unacceptable, and we will not tolerate that here in Hillsborough County,” he said. “This serves as a stark reminder of how quickly situations can spiral out of control and show the importance of responsible behavior and the consequences of inciting violence.”
Pedroso was released from detention Thursday after paying a $2,500 bond. It was not immediately apparent when she was due to appear in court as per Lawandcrime.
The Florida Supreme Court recently maintained the anti-incitement law used to punish Pedroso, ruling last month that the law cannot be used to try nonviolent protestors or onlookers.