A massive brawl involving 400 to 500 people erupted Saturday at a skating rink in Brandon, Florida, after a teen’s birthday party was canceled.
Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) arrived at Astro Skate, whose building has a 670-person max capacity, and found the huge group of people fighting in the parking lot, Fox 13 reported Monday.
SKATING RINK CHAOS🛼 29 arrested, including minors, after fights break out at Brandon Astro Skate: HCSO https://t.co/KvthAdn3r3 pic.twitter.com/hZBtCyOPqB
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) May 19, 2024
Authorities said someone broke a window at a nearby barbershop which reportedly caused about $1,200 in damage, and $500 worth of wine bottles were broken and property stolen from a 7-11 in the area.
Wild riot breaks out at Florida skating rink after party is canceled https://t.co/kRK0JHDcWK pic.twitter.com/JY5QCN7OyO
— New York Post (@nypost) May 21, 2024
Deputies arrested approximately 23 juveniles and six adults during the incident.
Video footage shows some in the crowd punching each other and one person appears to be slammed into a window, breaking the glass. Later in the clip, several people seem to be tearing at a woman’s clothes and hair as they drag her through a parking lot:
🚨𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧🚨
— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) May 20, 2024
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has arrested 23 juveniles and 6 adults following a violent disturbance in Brandon.
On May 18, 2024, a crowd of 400-500 individuals created chaos in the parking lot of Astro… pic.twitter.com/LlQmgIfI4N
Astro Skate Manager Andrea Leary told Fox 13 that the day before the brawl, the business canceled and refunded a teenage girl’s 18th birthday party. She claimed the young woman was not happy and told people on social media to show up anyway and “basically harass Astro Skate.”
HCSO Chief Deputy J. Maurer said the patron asked users online to “riot and confront law enforcement,” according to WFLA. The outlet noted the person had not met requirements for events at Astro Skate.
The business owner, Chris Maganias, said when they refunded the woman’s money, she was irate and called them names. “The next day she got online and told the kids to show up at the skating rink anyway and act a fool, you know. So, they acted the fool.”
In a statement attached to the video of the brawl posted online, HCSO Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “I am outraged by the violent and disruptive behavior that targeted hard-working people and businesses, creating chaos in our community.”
“Let me make this unequivocally clear: this violent and detrimental behavior will never, under any circumstances, be tolerated in Hillsborough County,” he explained.
“When responding to a scene as hectic as this, our deputies must account for potential danger from any direction. As you can see in the horrifying footage, these individuals had no regard for safety, and that’s where our deputies stepped in to defuse the situation professionally and swiftly,” Chronister concluded.