A Lake Worth Beach mother and daughter are accused of turning a reported roadside gun threat into a criminal case of their own, after deputies say the story unraveled under scrutiny. Danaisy Soria, 40, and Rita Ubals, 60, were arrested Friday after an alleged attack involving Soria’s former spouse led investigators to a trail of inconsistencies.
According to CBS12, Soria told deputies in a sworn recorded statement that a white pickup pulled alongside her vehicle near trailer-park homes on Barton Road. She said Peter Benjamin Pedro Mendez was riding as a passenger, displayed a black handgun and told her to pull over or he would kill her.
Ubals was allegedly driving the vehicle and told investigators she sped away in fear before heading directly home. Mendez was initially arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon based on the account, according to the report.
PBSO Says The Story Fell Apart Under Investigation
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office later received information that Soria had made previous high-priority calls to Mendez’s residence that investigators determined were false. A key inconsistency, the agency said, was that Soria’s vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction from the alleged encounter when she placed the 911 call.
A second account from CBS12 says investigators also allege that Ubals initially supported the claims before changing her stance. Soria and Ubals now face three counts of allegedly providing false statements to law enforcement that caused harm.
False-Report Charges Now Move Through Court
Florida’s false-report statute generally makes knowingly giving false information to an officer about an alleged crime a first-degree misdemeanor, although the law includes circumstances that can change the offense level, according to the Florida Senate. The specific allegations in this case still must be tested in court.
The arrests are accusations, not convictions, and court records will determine how the case proceeds. For now, a reported gun threat on a Lake Worth Beach roadway has produced an unexpected set of charges against the two people who allegedly made the call.
