Woman Pepper-Sprays Jetskiers After Argument At Traders Cove, Brick Police Say
BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township woman is accused of spraying three people on a waverunner with pepper spray after an argument at Traders Cove Marina, Brick police said Thursday.
Gabriela D. Slazak, 49, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, one count of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon in the incident that happened Sunday, July 20, according to court records.
Also charged in the incident was her husband, Matthew E. Balistreri, 56. He has been charged with three counts of threatening violence and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, along with having invalid insurance papers, according to court records.
The incident happened about 5 p.m. on Sunday, a witness told Patch.
Brick Capt. Paul Catalina said police were called to Traders Cove Marina by the victims, whom he did not identify except to say one was an adult and the others teens, 16 and 17 years old.
The three were on a waverunner and were towing a second waverunner back to the marina after the second one broke down. As they drove to the ramp at Traders Cove, the couple, who were on their docked boat at the marina, began yelling at them to slow down, Catalina said.
The couple then got off their boat and into their car and drove around to the ramp, where the three victims had pulled up to get the broken-down waverunner out of the water.
"They started yelling and cursing at the victims," Catalina said, and an argument ensued. During the argument, Slazak pulled out pepper spray and sprayed it at the three victims. Two of the people were hit and injured by the spray, but the third person was able to avoid it, he said. He did not say how seriously the victims were injured.
The couple then left the marina, he said. Police found them at their home and arrested them, Catalina said.
The two were in the Ocean County Jail on Monday but released shortly thereafter, according to jail records.
