BRANDON, Fla. — Six months after a near riot at Brandon's Astro Skate, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office took additional steps to connect with the community with a visibility and engagement event on Sunday at the same location.
The incident in May started with a canceled birthday party and an upset mother posting on social media that attracted people to the skate house. This led to a six-hour free-for-all brawl, with surrounding businesses vandalized and several people arrested, including the mother who the sheriff's office said triggered the fiasco.
In sharp contrast, sheriff's deputies were back at the skate house to host a free skating event to help strengthen their relationship with the community.
The "Astro Community Event Law Enforcement Skate" was aimed at healing and building trust, and it was all about fun, interactivity and conversation.
"The most exciting thing about today is having fun with our friends," said Ioannis Tsalatsanis, a grade school student.
Dozens of families joined the deputies for fun in the rink and even beginners were not left out.
Kids were treated to free haircuts and were allowed to hop onto motorcycles and chill with the K-9 Section. They also got to take fun pictures. Families in attendance said it's rare to hang out with law enforcement and get to know them better.
"It showed a lot of support from our local law enforcement to these kids that really need a good role model," Stephanie Tsalatsanis of Brandon said.
Tsalatsanis brought her three children to the skate event, including her 23-year-old daughter.
"Showing up, showing face, that they're here whenever we need them. It shows a lot of their character," Abby Tsalantsanis said.
"This came about just because Corporal Gonzales skates here and ended up talking with a manager and they said we would love to do this kind of stuff. Sheriff Chronister talks to us all the time about getting out of the office and into the community," said Captain Marvin Johnson from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies who attended the event and interacted with the children and their families said they wanted to show that they could be approachable despite the nature and perception of their job as law enforcement officers.
"We want the kids to see that deputies skate too. They're not just running lights and siren calls, and they don't just protect and serve. Protecting and serving the community is very important obviously, but this is important too. We want them to see us as people too," Johnson said.
Around 30 people were arrested and charged over the brawl which took place in May.
"Since the incident, it's been slow. People are slowly coming back to come skating, but the overall general from the public is, 'We still like Astro Skate, we know you're here for the kids and we're not going to judge you on one event and one thing that happened that was out of our control,'" said Andrea Leary, the manager of Astro Skate.
"I hope that they continue doing events like this because we will definitely come, absolutely," Tsalatsanis said.
The sheriff's office handed out free skate vouchers to schools inviting them to attend the event.
The managers at Astro Skate reaffirmed that their space was created with the community in mind, and they want to reassure folks that it remains a safe and secure family-friendly place.
