A Florida mother charged with inciting a 500-person riot at an ice rink has denied any responsibility for the incident, telling The Washington Post that it had “nothing to do with my daughter’s birthday party being canceled.”
“I know that to be true,” she added.
Stephanie Pedroso, 36, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of causing a disturbance at Astro Skating Rink in Brandon, Florida, after the rink canceled a May 17 event due to a breach of contract.
Pedroso received the refund the day before the party, but she was furious and reportedly took to social media to urge her daughter’s friends to attend the party and “beat the hell out of this woman.”
And they did just that.
It took police approximately six hours to quell the riot. 23 minors and six adults were arrested at the scene. Five local businesses were damaged during the unrest.
But Pedroso said disturbances at skating clubs are not uncommon and blaming herself for them is an easy excuse.
“That will be proven false in court,” she said.
Astro Skate owner Chris Maganeas said in his 43 years in business, these types of incidents are rare at any of his seven rinks.
“it is [Pedroso],” He said.
Maganes said Pedroso rented the rink after hours (11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.) for what he thought would be a party for elementary school kids. They agreed on a price of $400 for 50 kids for the first two hours, then $7 each after that.
However, staff began to notice that Pedroso was advertising it as a “teen dance” and charging $15 per person.
The club canceled the party and refunded the money it had paid Pedroso, but Pedroso cited breaches of contract by not allowing Link to approve the ads, selling tickets at a higher price than Link sold them to her, and refusing to hire off-duty police officers for the event.
Party organizers then turned to social media, allegedly encouraging people to gather at Astroskate and riot against business and law enforcement officials.
Pedroso was charged with inciting a riot, unlawful use of a two-way communication device and driving while license suspended, revoked or revoked, authorities said.
“This woman could have clearly killed somebody,” Maganeas said. “I can only pray to God that someone would pull out a gun.”
