A 61-year-old woman, identified as Silvia Carmen Perez, was arrested yesterday morning after a confrontation involving a group of bike-riding children in Pinecrest was captured on video and subsequently went viral. According to Local 10, the encounter unfolded over the weekend when Perez, driving a Bentley, halted her car and angrily confronted the children along Southwest 57th Avenue.
Caught on cellphone footage, Perez is seen and heard shouting profanities at the young cyclists. After being told by one of the kids that she tried to hit him, a claim seemingly ignored by adults who defended the children from afar, Perez appeared to shove one of the kids and snatch a phone from another. Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center online jail records show she was booked yesterday on charges of robbery by sudden snatching and battery.
Pinecrest Police Department Chief Jason Cohen thoroughly explained the gravity of the altercation. "Grabbing the phone out of his hand and throwing it is robbery. Robbery by sudden snatching. Which is a serious felony," Chief Cohen said. "And she also struck him in the hand when she did it so it’s also battery," he further clarified in an interview obtained by Local 10.
Details from the police report, disclosed by WSVN, reveal that after initially yelling at the children to leave the street, Perez repositioned her vehicle, exited and resumed her heated confrontation with the group. During the tumult, one child attempted to clarify that they were on a bike path, to which Perez retorted, "It's not a bike path. It’s a [expletive] big street, and you know it."
Perez had turned herself in to police weeks after the incident, facing now charges of battery and robbery. In court, her attorney Larry McMillan claim that she was merely attempting to cease dangerous behavior by the children, saying, "She observed juveniles on e-bikes popping wheelies being disruptive," during a court appearance as reported by Local 10. After posting bail, Perez has been ordered to stay away from the children involved. As she exited the jail, she stated to Local 10 News' Bridgette Matter, "The truth shall prevail," expressing her belief in her innocence despite the arrest.
