BRANDON, Fla. — The investigation over a weekend brawl outside a skating rink in Brandon continues.
It left 29 people arrested, mostly juveniles, and left some businesses damaged. One juvenile was taken to Tampa General Hospital with a severe cut on his hand, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
On Saturday night, deputies said they responded to the parking lot of Astro Skate, where a crowd of approximately 400 to 500 people were. Deputies said they issued multiple warnings, informing the crowd they were trespassing before arrests were made.
"Despite this, the crowd continued fighting, damaging businesses, stealing, and disrupting business operations," the sheriff's office said.
Deputies said this all took place after Astro Skate of Brandon canceled a private birthday party with money refunded because of safety concerns.
Owner Christopher Maganias said he plans to double security at the Brandon location starting Friday night and is evaluating whether to postpone a weekend event.
Maganias said he has canceled events before out of safety concerns and doesn't mind having to do so again.
"It's nice to make money and pay our bills, but our job is to keep roller skating because it's cool," Maganias said. "If you want to roller skate and have fun, we'll love to have you. If you want to come and cause trouble, go somewhere else."
Jeffrey Gant of Tampa said his 16-year-old son was among those arrested for trespassing, but said he wasn't fighting or causing damage to any businesses. Rather, he was caught in the middle of the chaos while trying to find his dad to pick him up.
However, Gant said he isn't concerned about the arrest as much as he is about how he said the arrest was handled.
Gant said his son told him he was handcuffed behind his back inside the squad car for at least eight hours before he was processed.
"I want to know why my son was treated that way," Gant said. "I don't mind him, you know, being arrested for trespass, but you treat him unfairly. It's the treatment I don't like."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office wrote in part: "In accordance with our policy all individuals detained in our patrol cars had their handcuffs moved from the back to the front, air conditioning was on in the vehicles, and all juveniles were allowed to use the bathroom."
The spokesperson added that the sheer amount of arrestees slowed the processing time at the juvenile assessment center.
Of those arrested, 23 were minors.