BRANDON, Fla. — What started as a night of fun in Brandon ended in chaos with more than 20 teens arrested.
Several businesses on Brandon Boulevard said there was a stampede of teenagers running through parking lots Saturday night. Authorities said the teens were asked to leave the Brandon Astro Skate rink.
After they left, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said some of them caused nearly $2,000 worth of damage to different businesses in the area.
According to the skating rink, it all started with a "disgruntled" customer.
“A disgruntled customer was trying to get back at us, unfortunately,” Andrea Leary, manager at Astro Skate said.
Leary said a private event was scheduled Saturday night for an 18th birthday party.
But instead of a small celebration, Leary said they learned it was going to be much bigger.
“We later found out that it was not a little party it was a big event. They had posts on social media and flyers everywhere, things that were against our standard for safety concerns,” Leary said.
The skating rink said it canceled the event the day before and refunded the customer.
“She went on their Instagram live and Facebook. They went all over social media bashing us and told the kids to come anyway,” Leary said.
The skating rink said as kids started arriving, they were turned away so the rink wouldn't exceed capacity.
“We encouraged all the kids to please call their parents, [telling them] you need to get picked up. We had deputies on staff...off duty,” Leary said.
Those off-duty deputies were quickly reinforced.
Dozens of deputies responded trying to control the crowd. The sheriff's office said some in the crowd were fighting, stealing and damaging businesses. A local barbershop and convenience store were each left with close to a thousand dollars in damages.
A total of 23 kids were arrested Saturday night. There were also six adults arrested with complaints ranging from trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting officers without violence.
Astro Skate Rink said their capacity limit is 670 people. There's no word what charges any of the minors are facing.