Pack of cigarettes ignites 200-person fight at Fort Myers gas station
By Rachel Myers • rmyers@news-press.com • July 1, 2008
A 200-person melee at a Fort Myers gas station early Monday morning started over a pack of cigarettes, according to Lee Sheriff’s deputy Erik Hurd.
Six teens were arrested in connection with the incident, in which the large crowd gathered to watch as at least five females and one male were using sticks, pipes and other blunt objects to strike a vehicle in the Racetrac Gas Station parking lot on South Pointe Boulevard around 1 a.m. Monday.
The 16-year-old female victim told Hurd that she, her cousin and her cousin’s boyfriend pulled in next to a gas pump when several females walked over and began arguing. Sheriff spokesman John Sheehan said the altercation appeared to be over a pack of stolen cigarettes, but the details of that allegation are unclear, he said. The two others in the car tried to calm the situation, but were unsuccessful.
The victim tried to drive away, Hurd said, but was chased by the other females, who began beating the sides of the vehicle with various objects, causing several thousand dollars in damage.
Gloria Hood, 20, Cherrelle Jones, 22, Tamra Harris, 23, Whitley Rodriguez, 20 — all of Fort Myers — and a 15-year-old Cape Coral teen were all charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and criminal mischief by damaging property. A 16-year-old Lehigh Acres male, like the 15-year-old, is not being named by news-press.com due to age. The 16-year-old Lehigh Acres male was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after Hurd found a gun in his car.