AVENTURA, Fla. — A Miami woman is facing two charges ― including a felony ― after police said she slapped a senior in a spat over a chair at the Aventura Mall, sending him to the hospital.
According to Aventura police, the incident happened just after 5 p.m. Sunday at the mall’s newly-opened Eataly food hall.
An arrest report states that Lelia Trinchero, 44, of Coconut Grove, told officers that she “sat at a table to eat food and wait for her husband and son,” which she said was empty, when a woman “approached her and told her that her family was sitting at that table.”
This set off a dispute over whether the table was indeed occupied before Trinchero sat down, police said. According to the report, Trinchero began yelling at the woman as she took chairs from the table.
Police said when the woman took the last chair, Trinchero slapped her across the arm “and they began to struggle over the chair.”
A 72-year-old man who was part of the woman’s party intervened, police said, to try to break up the fight. Authorities said Trinchero slapped him across the face, leading to “pain and dizziness” and a trip to the hospital.
Police arrested Trinchero on charges of battery on a person 65 or older and battery.
A judge found probable cause to charge her Monday and ordered that she be released on her own recognizance.
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