NEW PORT RICHEY (FOX 13) – Two women have been charged with battery and burglary after an alleged case of road rage turned into a violent beating at a busy Pasco County intersection Monday.
The ordeal was recorded by a witness who was shocked by what was unfolding.
Alicia Nicole Scarduzio, 20, and Kelly Lyn Gemberling, 49, both face charges of burglary and battery and were booked into the Land O’ Lakes Detention Center Wednesday.
The two are accused of dragging a woman out of her car and beating her to the ground near the intersection of Little Road and State Road 54 in New Port Richey during rush hour Monday afternoon.
“It was vicious and it was scary,” a witness who didn’t want to be identified told FOX 13. “I felt like I was watching those fight videos that you see online.”
She said it started with a car, driving aggressively, cutting off other vehicles. Witnesses say that aggressive driver tried to drive around the vehicle of the victim, but was stuck at a red light and was not able to pass.
“She got mad,” the witness said, adding the situation escalated at Little Road and Troublecreek Road when the Scarduzio and Gemberling allegedly jumped out and attacked the victim.
“The one passenger got into this girl’s vehicle. I mean, how would you feel if somebody jumped into your vehicle, slammed it in park while you’re at a light, and then simultaneously another person that’s double and a half your size rips you out by your hair and starts brutally attacking you?”
The witness started recording as one driver beat up the other driver in the middle of the road. Moments later, a man ran over to break up the fight and then a deputy, who was driving by and saw the commotion, can be seen speeding up to help.
Earlier Wednesday, before arrests were made, the witness said she and others offered their video of the incident to the deputy on scene, but were told it wasn’t necessary.
“When I had stated that multiple of us had videos, I was told, ‘Oh, well, we’ll contact you guys if we needed you,'” she said.
Pasco Sheriff’s Capt. Stephen Hartnett said at the time he was looking into whether deputies turned down cell phone video and said charges had not yet been filed because the women involved were accusing each other of starting the fight.
“Where we’re at is just trying to piece all the information together to define who were the aggressors and who ultimately is responsible for being the suspects or the offenders versus the victim,” Hartnett said. “The video doesn’t tell the whole story. It just tells a little snippet of it. So we don’t know really what initiated the confrontation or this incident.”
The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for her injuries.
“That was absolutely terrifying. I can’t imagine being her. If I was her, I would never get into another vehicle again. I’d be terrified,” the witness said, adding she hopes an arrest comes soon. “That is assault, battery, it’s a multiple array of things being that they jumped her!”
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