All hell broke loose between a pair of twin sisters in a Walt Disney World hotel over a television. By the end of the altercation, one of the 56-year-old women was arrested and charged with domestic violence for fighting her sibling.
Stephanni Cassidy, who is from Slidell, La., was staying at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort just before Christmas with her twin. (The Orange County Sheriff’s Office took months to release the public records, which is why we’re writing about it now.)
Each had a very different version of events to tell authorities and blamed the other for starting the brawl.
Stephanni Cassidy said the fight began at 10:30 p.m. because she left the TV on, and her sister, who was trying to go to bed, got up and yanked the power cord from the wall.
The sister, who was unnamed in the report, then allegedly punched Cassidy. The blow knocked her to the ground, and she hit her head on the TV cabinet.
Cassidy got up and went into the bathroom to call 911, later showing injuries to the authorities. The left side of her jaw was swollen, and she had scratches on her neck, chest, and wrist. She refused to go to the hospital.
But then the sheriff’s office interviewed Cassidy’s twin, who also had scratches.
The unnamed woman’s version of events started when Cassidy dropped a metal water bottle on her own toe and then tried to blame her.
Cassidy started yelling and cursing, so her sister put on white noise to go to sleep, which made Cassidy angrier and led her to raise the volume on the television.
They got into a verbal argument, and that’s when the other woman pulled the TV cord out of the wall. Things got physical.
Cassidy pushed her, so she fell backward into the bed. She pushed Cassidy off her, but Cassidy grabbed her by the neck. She pushed her again, which was when Cassidy fell and hit her head.
Cassidy yelled at her twin to get out of the room and then called for help.
The bed had been moved, according to the sheriff’s deputy, which seemed to fit the second version of the story.
So, who had instigated the fight? Cassidy or her sister?
The sheriff’s office believed the sister and arrested Cassidy, who pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge last month and was ordered not to communicate with her twin, according to a December 13 court order. She is being represented by the public defender’s office.
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