Two women are facing charges of child abuse over a drunken incident where a baby suffered a broken arm after being tossed around “like a toy” at a Daytona Beach bar.
Police arrested the two young ladies, 20-year-old Sierrah Newell, and 19-year-old Brianna Lafoe who had the infant in tow while partying in bikinis at the Coyote Ugly Saloon during the wee hours of the morning. When told by witnesses to stop roughhousing with the baby, they allegedly just became more aggressive, severely injuring the child.
The incident went down at the drinking establishment at 512 Seabreeze Blvd when patrons called the cops when the two scantily-clad women were observed with the baby “throwing him in the air” and “flipping him upside down,” according to the charging affidavit as reported by the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The ugly scene was caught on video, showing the women threatening witnesses who were recording them during the incident that resulted in their arrests and the baby being taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for his injuries which included the broken arm.
(Video: YouTube/Fox 35 Orlando)
“According to the affidavit, one of the women, while holding the baby in one hand, ‘intentionally grabbed’ and struck a witness who had started recording the scene while also ‘screaming threats,'” the Daytona Beach News-Journal, citing police that Newell “was on crutches and threatening to hit bystanders.”
“In return, she started throwing the baby up and down a little too aggressively,” said Jahada Rasheed, who witnessed the incident, according to local news outlet WESH. “And then what she did that really surprised me, then she put the baby upside down. It was like hold up. This is getting way too far.”
“It really breaks your heart to see a little one go through something like that,” said Shawn Knapp, a manager at Crazy John’s Recreational Cannabis next door, saying that he was glad to see witnesses intervene.
“That’s what we need in all communities right? We need people to watch out for each other, no matter what age,” he told Fox 35 Orlando.
“It’s unfortunate again period that this happened to this family,'” he added. “I don’t know their circumstances but you hope that everybody gets the help they need….”
The infant, whose name wasn’t released, was taken to Halifax Health “with red marks on his back” with an X-ray showing a mark that  “could indicate a broken arm,” the baby has been released from the hospital according to police.
“The two women are facing a felony charge of ‘cruelty toward a child’ according to the charging affidavit. Lafoe is also facing a misdemeanor battery charge. Lafoe is being held on a total $3,500 bond, while Newell has been released, according to jail records,” the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
The State Department of Children and Families was contacted and is conducting an investigation.
“To be out there, dressed like that, with a baby. It hurts. You have to feel for that baby,” Knapp said, telling WESH that the city of Daytona Beach is seeking more surveillance cameras in the area. “We want people to know, hey, watch what you’re doing out here. It’s being recorded,” he said.
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