A Wild Altercation At Universal Orlando Allegedly Happened Over… Parking Validation

We’ve seen far more than a few fights break out at theme parks over the years, and Universal Studios hasn't been immune to those either. On that note, the company's Florida-based resort just played host to such an incident. This particular case actually involves an entire family of four allegedly attacking a resort employee, all at once, and parking validation is reportedly at the center of the matter.

A Universal Orlando Team Member Was Allegedly Attacked Over Parking Validation

The incident in question took place on January 19 at the Portofino Bay Hotel at the Universal Orlando Resort, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by People. The report claims that a family of four -- identified as Huberto Dorto, Laura Alonso Silva, Amanda Brito, and Olivia Nicole Brito -- was dining at one of the hotel’s restaurants and asked to have their parking validated. They had four parking tickets between them; two got validated, but the other two could not be validated.

The Team Member who handled the validation then claimed that she saw one of the female members of the party attempt to validate a parking ticket herself. The employee then asked the valet attendant not to let the family leave. At this point, one of the women, Amanda Brito, reportedly began yelling at the employee and hitting her work tablet, before punching her and pulling her hair. It was also alleged that all four members of the family began hitting and kicking the woman, who was knocked to the ground, before other employees broke up the fight.

The Family Has A Different Story On The Parking Situation

There’s no record of charges being filed against Olivia Nicole Brito, but the other three members of the family have been charged with first-degree battery. Since the, the family has claimed the staff member was actually the one who threw the first punch, after insulting Amanda Brito, and that she was only acting in self-defense. However, the supervisor for the employee pressing charges said he saw the brood hit the staff member and was aware of the family coming back “multiple times” in an attempt to get parking validated.

Whatever the full story here, it’s clearly an unusual escalation of events over something as seemingly inconsequential as parking validation. Which is not to say that any fights at theme parks have ever been over things that made any sense.

In the past, there assaults over people cutting in line and even full-blown Fantasyland brawls over such situations. Disney World Cast members have been assaulted by people trying and failing to skip the line.

Whatever happens with the criminal charges in this latest matter, it seems like a strong possibility this family won't be welcomed back to the Portofino Bay, or likely anyplace else at Universal Orlando Resort. Historically, a ban from a theme park resort has been a fairly common outcome for a situation like this.