'Jersey Shore' Brawl Leading To Criminal Complaint, New Lawsuit
May 11 2010, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola was apparently not such a sweetheart in South Beach, according to a 24-year-old woman who alleges the Jersey Shore star punched her twice in the face.
RadarOnline.com has learned that Kristen DeMinco has retained attorneys and will file a civil lawsuit and meet with the Florida State's Attorneys office to discuss filing criminal charges.
DeMinco claims that she was at Club Dream in Miami's South Beach when the stars of Jersey Shore arrived. DeMinco says she was "assaulted and punched twice in the face" by Sammi.
Her attorneys say that after this incident the Jersey Shore cast was involved in another fight nearby and was ejected from that club.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Snooki Involved In Miami Bar Fight, Slaps Man & Throws Food
RadarOnline.com exclusively reported with video on a bar fight where Snooki threw a drink in a man's face, attempted to punch him and J-WOWW came in to help her.
Now this new incident is causing more embarrassment for the MTV cast and a news conference will be held by the potential plaintiff's attorneys on Tuesday.
VIDEO & PHOTOS: Jersey Shore Girls Cause Mayhem In Miami!
They say it's all part of a "disturbing trend of Jersey Shore stars getting into physical altercations for increased television ratings."
The attorney for Kristen Deminco, Tom Pennekamp, Jr., told RadarOnline.com exclusively, "She was battered. She was beat up.
"We're going to file charges today and we plan to file a civil suit as well."
Regarding the fight, Pennekamp said, "This wasn't even the first fight that night for these people. They're running around Miami Beach beating up people for ratings. That's what's going on. We're holding the news conference to bring to light what's been going on around here."
This isn’t the first - or even second or third time for that matter - that the Jersey Shore cast has been involved in a fight since joining the hit MTV show.
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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi slapped a man, sparked a food fight and threw her drink at him during a bar brawl in South Beach last month and the whole thing was caught on video.
Meanwhile, a Miami couple is also suing Ronnie and Sammi “Sweetheart” for instigating a brawl after a night out drinking.
In the lawsuit related to that case, plaintiffs Josh Thomas and Kristin Perrenod say they were followed out of a New Jersey bar by Ronnie and Sammi on August 23, 2009, with the intention of causing a confrontation.
VIDEO: More Violence on Jersey Shore
The suit claims no one stopped to break up the fight until finally an MTV security guard intervened and “detained Thomas until police arrived, all while Ronnie was allowed to quickly flee the scene with Sammi Sweetheart to avoid arrest.” RadarOnline.com spoke to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Eugene M. LaVergne, who said he believed MTV encouraged the fight to better the show’s ratings: “This is not about whether Jersey Shore is a good show or a bad show.
You cannot commit criminal acts, videotape it, portray it out of context and profit from it,” LaVergne said.