After allegedly assaulting a pet store employee in west Miami-Dade over a transaction involving crickets, a Miami lady is being charged with a first-degree felony.
The incident occurred in May at the Petsmart located in the unincorporated Fontainebleau region at 8241 W. Flagler St., according to Miami-Dade police.
On Monday, Jenevi Lia Hidalgo, a 24-year-old resident of Flagami, turned herself in to the police.
According to the arrest report, Hidalgo went to the store on May 20 just before seven o’clock in the evening. When she wanted to buy some crickets, a staff member brought out a bag for her.
According to the report, while Hidalgo was making her way to the register to pay, she “became upset with the number of crickets she was given” and lost her temper with other staff members.
According to the police, Hidalgo argued with the victim and asked, “Do you want to take this outside?”
“To rectify the dispute, the victim took (Hidalgo)’s bag of crickets and walked into the store’s pump room to recount the crickets,” police stated in the report.
“While the victim was in the pump room and her back turned to the door, (Hidalgo) entered the pump room and willfully and intentionally pushed the victim in the back,” police stated.
According to the complaint, Hidalgo was told by the employee, “You can’t be here,” but the situation worsened. Hidalgo “intentionally punched the victim multiple times in the head,” according to police, outside the pump room.
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“(Hidalgo) grabbed the victim’s hair and threw her to the ground. Another Petsmart employee then intervened and stopped (her) from continuing to punch the victim while on the ground,” according to the report. “At that time, (Hidalgo) fled the scene.”
According to authorities, the employee “sustained scratches to her face and neck and a minor contusion to her forehead.” Hidalgo was granted a $2,000 bond when she appeared in Miami-Dade court on Tuesday, following her surrender the day before on a charge of burglary with assault or battery, according to jail records.
As of Tuesday afternoon, she was still being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
