A Florida mom has been charged with inciting a 500-person riot at a skating rink after calling on her daughter’s friends to “tear this bitch up” when her kid’s birthday party was canceled, according to police.
Stephanie Pedroso, 36, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly sparking the chaos at Astro Skate in Brandon in May after the rink canceled her booking for an “after hours birthday party” for breach of contract, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Pedroso made the reservation on May 14 for the May 17 event for her daughter’s birthday, but failed to secure off-duty deputies for the party as agreed upon in the contract, leading to the cancellation.
Pedroso was issued a refund, cops said.
However, an outraged Pedroso posted an expletive-filled rant on her daughter’s social media account encouraging the girl’s friends to show up at the rink anyway.
“For y’all, if y’all still go up there, tear the f–k out of them. I’ve got some money for y’all, and I’ll pay y’all ass,” Pedroso said in the video, according to police.
“I hope everybody still show up and tear this bitch up tomorrow,” she added.
Pedroso was also heard calling on people to “make them crackers work” and “stress them the f—k out.”
Around 9:20 p.m. on May 18, deputies responded to calls of a “crowd of 500 people” that stormed the rink, leading to several fights.
Deputies ordered the crowd to leave because they were trespassing, but the mob continued fighting, damaging nearby businesses and stealing and disrupting operations, police said in May.
At a nearby barbershop, one victim was beaten and thrown through the store’s plate-glass window before being transported to an area hospital.
It took deputies nearly six hours to contain the riot that led to five local businesses being damaged.
Authorities arrested 23 minors and three adults at the scene.
“Using social media to encourage people to riot and destroy businesses is completely unacceptable, and we will not tolerate that here in Hillsborough County,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
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.
She was released from detention Thursday after posting a bond of $2,500, jail records show.
It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court.
