The Real Housewives of Miami star Alexia Echevarria’s son Peter Rosello made headlines last week after he posted a video to Facebook of himself punching a homeless man in the nuts and then running. It was meant to be a funny prank, but no one was laughing. Now Rosello is behind bars in Miami, charged with a hate crime and facing up to five years behind bars.
The Miami Herald reports Rosello, 20, turned himself in to police earlier today, and has been charged with one count of simply battery, which is classified as a felony. Florida recently passed a law in which attacks on the homeless are considered hate crimes and carry must stricter punishments.
Richard Sharpstein, Rosello’s attorney, talked to press shortly after Rosello turned himself in and said, “He’ll be pleading not guilty. We’ll present the best defense possible.” Sharpstein has his work cut out for him. It’s going to be mighty difficult for him to convince a judge that his client is not guilty when there is video evidence of the incident.
Rosello ‘s video “Hobo gets NutChecked!!!!” had just over 300 views before it was taken down, but as you’ve probably seen, it was quickly posted all over the web. After receiving some backlash regarding his “prank,” Rosello once again took to Facebook and wrote, “I feel bad for those people. didn’t mean to offend anyone. they got my love, i always give them like 5 bucks or weed.” How nice!
A few days ago, Rosello’s mother Alexia Echevarria released a brief statement to the press which read, “At this time at this time I can’t say anything. I’m very saddened by the whole situation.”
Amazingly, Peter’s dad (and Alexia’s ex-husband) Pedro Rosello was also arrested this week in Miami after violating his probation. I checked online to see if perhaps father and son might could be roomies, but Pedro is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and Peter is currently residing at the Pre-Trial Detention Center.
