A Florida mom charged with instigating a 500-person riot at a skating rink refused to accept any blame for the melee, telling The Post it “had nothing to do with my daughter’s birthday party being canceled.”
“I know that for a fact,” she added.
Stephanie Pedroso, 36, was arrested Thursday for allegedly causing the chaos at Astro Skate in Brandon, Florida, after the rink canceled her May 17 event over a breach of contract.
Pedroso was issued a refund the day prior to the party, but she was pissed off and reportedly called on her daughter’s friends through social media to still show up and “tear this bitch up.”
And they did.
It took around six hours for police to contain the riot. They arrested 23 minors and six adults at the scene. Five local businesses sustained damaged during the frenzy.
But Pedroso said it’s not unusual for there to be mayhem at the skate club, and it was an easy excuse to blame it on her.
“It’ll be proven in court that it’s false,” she said.
Astro Skate owner Chris Maganias said in his 43 years in business, this type of incident is a rarity at any of his seven skate rinks.
“That was brought on by [Pedroso],” he said.
Maganias said Pedroso rented the rink after hours — 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. — for what he believed was an elementary school-aged party. They agreed to a price of $400 for 50 kids for the first two hours, and then $7 a head after.
But staff started seeing Pedroso advertising it as a “teen dance,” and charging $15 a person.
The club canceled the party and refunded Pedroso’s money, pointing to violations of her contract: She didn’t let the rink approve advertising, she sold tickets for more than the rink sold them to her for, and she refused to hire off-duty deputies for the event.
Party organizers then allegedly turned to social media, hyping up people to meet at Astro Skate and riot against the business and law enforcement officials.
Pedroso was charged with one count each of inciting a riot, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and driving with a license suspended, canceled or revoked, authorities announced.
“This lady clearly could have gotten someone killed,” Maganias said. “God forbid someone pulled out a gun.”
