Tourist sues Universal after fight in arcade
A Connecticut tourist is suing Universal Orlando after he fought with a Maitland teenager in a brawl that started over a stroller in a narrow arcade at Islands of Adventure, according to documents.
John Matava, who filed the lawsuit last month over the 2017 incident, is seeking more than $15,000 in damages in Orange Circuit Court. Universal did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
Matava claimed in his lawsuit that he had been “violently attacked by a belligerent, intoxicated, male.”
Matava alleged Universal didn’t have proper surveillance or security to keep his family safe, the lawsuit said. He also accused the theme parks of not checking IDs when serving alcohol to minors.
“It was the worst experience we’ve ever had in our life,” said Matava when reached for comment Wednesday.
Orlando police ruled, however, both sides were “mutual combatants” and no one ended up being charged with a crime after police watched video surveillance, according to a police report.
“The whole police report is a lie,” Matava said, who believes he was discriminated against because he is from out of state. “There [were] no video cameras.”
When Orlando police officers arrived at the arcade in October 2017, they noticed Matava’s bloody nose and an injury on his left eyebrow. His wife and the teenager he had fought with both had minor injuries, too.
The fight began after Matava’s wife, Jennifer, pushed their grandson in a stroller in the arcade and complained people wouldn’t step aside, she said in the police report.
That’s when the 19-year-old Maitland man overheard her, confronted her husband and punched him in the face, she said.
The teenager said Jennifer Matava swore as she ordered people to move, according to the police report. He suggested she ask nicer, which he said led to Matava, then 53, of Mansfield, Conn., start
ing a fight with him.
According to the police report, video existed that showed the teenager saying something to Matava. Matava stuck his face in front of the teen’s and chestbumped him.
The teenager punched him, and then the fight
broke out as Jennifer Matava tried to stop them. She got hit inadvertently with one of the teenager’s punches, the report said.
The teenager stepped back but then Matava reengaged him and the brawl continued until the two men were separated, the report said.
“Based on the statements and video surveillance, it is clear John Matava and (the
teen) were mutual combatants,” the police report found, adding the teenager was issued a trespass warning from Universal.
Matava’s attorney did not respond to messages for comment Wednesday.