The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) said Joel O’Grady, 38, and his son Julian Falkinburg, 21, from Sanford, got into a fight at a wedding reception in Lake Helen on Saturday, September 3.
According to Tampa Bay Criminal Defense attorney firm Goldman Wetzel, the rate of violent crime in Florida is 378.4 per 100,000 people. Despite the latest incident, it added violent crime had seen a drop of 30 percent since 2010.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the victim was hit in the head and face multiple times “and kicked even after becoming unresponsive.”
According to police, the victim was taken to a nearby hospital while the father-son duo fled.
In a Thursday, September 8, Facebook update, Chitwood confirmed both had been arrested by Daytona Beach police.
He added: “They were taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail and booked early Saturday morning.
“O’Grady posted $100,000 bond and was released overnight, while Falkinburg posted $50,000 bond and was released Saturday afternoon. Conditions of their release include no contact with the victim.”
Both had been wanted on charges of aggravated battery.
The sheriff said in the same Facebook post: “This has to be our first father and son scumbag of the week post, but they earned it. Not just kicking a man when he’s down, but when he’s unconscious.”
Newsweek has contacted the VCSO for comment.
There have been numerous cases where fights have broken out at weddings that have resulted in law enforcement becoming involved.
In July, a woman was shot after a fight broke out at a wedding reception in Philadelphia.
According to police, the 26-year-old victim was shot in the leg at the 4200 block of Macalester Street in Feltonville.
A Florida bride and groom were arrested earlier this year following a fight on their wedding night.
The newlyweds were charged with domestic violence by Naples police who had been alerted to a disturbance at the Hilton Hotel.
Naples police said they found Stefanie Ginas in the salon room of the hotel with several blood spots on her wedding dress, which also had its left strap torn.
In 2021 a bride was arrested after biting a police officer at a wedding reception in Memphis. The bride had allegedly been involved in one of several fights and was charged after reportedly biting the officer on the shoulder.
