Two arrested for July Wawa brawl
Bayona
Authorities have painted a clearer picture of what was going on in a viral video of a melee at a Northeast Philadelphia Wawa store late last month. And they’ve arrested two people who were allegedly involved in the disturbance.
Police arrested two Tacony residents last Thursday for rioting, conspiracy, reckless endangerment, assault and related offenses in connection with the July 29 fracas at Torresdale Avenue and Levick Street. The suspects, Barbara Bayona, 43, and Jonathan Rodriguez, 20, both live about two blocks from the convenience store near Ditman and Levick streets.
The trouble began at about 10:25 p.m. when a group of people quarreled with employees of the store “over the purchase of cigars,” police said. Officers from the 15th district were called to the store, but the disgruntled patrons had already left the scene.
Police were again called to the store at 11:39 p.m. after the disgruntled patrons returned to the store with some friends and reignited the confrontation. This time, men and women in the group allegedly threw plastic utensils and packaged food at employees. They also attacked a patron who tried to intervene.
“At one point, a male customer had his shirt pulled over his head and was punched repeatedly and kicked by the males and females,” police said.
Another store patron videotaped the melee, adding his own verbal commentary. The 3-minute, 12-second clip had drawn more than 1.2 million views on Facebook as of Monday afternoon. Detectives used the images to identify the suspects.
Court records show that Bayona and Rodriguez are awaiting trial in an unrelated burglary case stemming from their arrests last November. She is held at the Riverside Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000 bail, while Rodriguez is held at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 bail. ••
Rodriguez
