It was graphic, an all-out brawl between 20 women at an Ocala Race Track gas station. The late night December fight was caught on tape and posted online. Nearly four months after the fight and all the negative attention, Ocala Police have been on guard.
"The biggest thing is just increasing police presence in trouble spots and particularly the race track and other businesses out on West 40th when all the bars and some of the clubs close," OPD Detective John Hilton said. "That's been our biggest focus."
Since January, OPD has received a total of 121 calls for service at the gas station, ranging from complaints about noise to disturbance. But none of those incidents came close to comparing to the now famous fight.
According to Detective Hilton, the gas station has not allowed groups of people to congregate on their parking lot. Their hours of operation are still 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Out of the nine women identified in the video, seven turned themselves in, another woman was brought in by OPD. Twenty-year-old Artesia Grant is still hiding from the law. The charges the women will face include disorderly conduct and affray, both misdemeanors.
The Race Track Gas Station Manager would not comment. Corporate officials did not return our numerous calls.