Karaoke night turns into fight night at Connecticut bar
(NECN: Brian Burnell, Stamford, Conn.) – Something happened Wednesday night at Bobby Valentine’s in Stamford, Connecticut, but exactly what depends on who you talk to. 25-year-old Leidy Alcantara told police she was singing karaoke when one among a group of six girls told her she was annoying and punched her in the face. Leidy Alcantara, Port Chester NY: And she’s like, “yeah, you’re very annoying.” And I was, “so why you come over here? This is karaoke night. Don’t come.” And she like comes, she punched me. She says after that all six attacked her. The girls were arrested and charged with assault. This story has gone international and their mug shots are splashed across TV and the internet. Here’s what they really look like in more relaxed circumstances and they tell a very different story. They say they were not drinking but, as for Alcantara. Deja Himes, Stamford CT: She was drinking, she was drunk. Kiana Strickland is the one police say was the instigator but she says Alcantara started the fight. That she was screaming rather than singing and didn’t like the way Strickland looked at her. Kiana Strickland, Stamford CT: She’s like yelling and screaming and yelling and screaming and then she grabbed my arm. And I pulled my arm back and said, “Don’t touch me.” So she grabbed my neck and when she grabbed my neck her boyfriend jumped in the middle of me and her of the altercation. When he grabbed me she tried to swing at me again so I hit her. The girls say that’s when the bar’s bouncers stepped in a tried to get them out. Kiana started to leave but Deja Himes says she didn’t get far. Deja Himes, Stamford CT: She’s walking out the door and the girl attacked her from the back… pulled her hair. Everybody rushed in and jumped on her. That started the melee Alcantara told police involved all six girls beating her as she is on the floor. The girls say not true. Michelle Rosedom, Stamford CT: I grabbed her and while I’m grabbing her she’s basically falling on the floor like she’s falling down. So she hits the floor, I look to my left and the bouncers have Martisa choked up. That would be Martisa Chambers who says the bouncers had her by the throat shoved up against the wall. All six girls say they’ve been wrongly portrayed as criminals and can’t believe the story has gotten so much attention. They intend to fight the charges and clear their names.
