BRANDON, Fla. — Deputies are stepping up patrols in Brandon this weekend after 29 people were arrested during a violent brawl involving hundreds of people outside a roller-skating rink and other nearby businesses last Saturday.
This Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says additional patrols of both uniformed and undercover deputies will be put in “high-risk” areas to swiftly respond in the event of any further violence or property damage.
“We understand that emotions are running high after last weekend's events," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. "However, acts of violence and property damage only serve to hurt the very community we are all striving to protect. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is committed to maintaining peace and order throughout the county this weekend and beyond."
The sheriff says they are taking a proactive approach to ensure safety after uncovering social media posts encouraging more chaos ahead of Memorial Day.
The chaotic brawl broke out Saturday night outside Astro Stake of Brandon after the company canceled a private birthday party. While the group's money was refunded, they reportedly decided to post on social media "asking people to come and riot at the business and confront law enforcement."
Deputies arrived to find 400-500 people in the parking lot of Astro Skate and nearby businesses. They said they issued multiple warnings informing the crowd they were trespassing and needed to leave.
"Despite this, the crowd continued fighting, damaging businesses, stealing, and disrupting business operations," the sheriff's office wrote.
The video shows one teen getting punched, kicked and thrown through the glass window of the Time Out Barber Shop.
"It was outside. They came up and started attacking me," the teen can be heard telling deputies as he held out his bloody hand.
The teen was transported to Tampa General Hospital to treat his "severe cut."
In several other clips, teens can be seen pulling people's hair, punching each other and pushing people to the ground.
Deputies said during the brawl, a group went into a convenience store, caused more than $500 worth of damage to wine bottles and stole an undetermined amount of merchandise.
In total, 23 teens and six adults were arrested. The adults were booked into the Orient Road Jail while the teens were taken to a juvenile assessment center.
Ahead of the weekend, Astro Skate of Brandon says they are also making changes, hiring additional deputies and postponing a planned all-night skate previously scheduled for Sunday.
“There's thousands of kids that skated this week, every week, that love coming Astro Skate and then you have this lunatic that gets on social media, says 'Go attack Astro skate, attack the police'," Christopher Maganias, the owner of Astro Skate Brandon, said.
“All we can do is take precautions and stick to our rules. If you don't have roller skates, you can't skate here. If you smell like marijuana, you can't skate here, if you're verbally abusive to us or whoever, you can't skate here,” Maganias added.
HCSO says they are still actively investigating the brawl and more arrests are possible.