Charges against Peterson dropped due to “reasonable force” in Gordos incident

UPDATE on February 22, 2023: According to a statement filed for the state attorney’s office, an investigation found that Trenton Peterson used reasonable force to remove Latoya Woolfolk, Briony Williams and Destiny Sanchez from Gordo’s property.

The statement reads: “Based upon a complete investigation, including reviewing all the video recordings that the Tallahassee Police Department obtained subsequent to Trenton Peterson’s arrest, Trenton Peterson used reasonable force to remove Latoya Woolfolk, Briony Williams, and Destiny Sanchez from the property and detained Latoya Woolfolk until police arrived.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - New surveillance video shows the moments leading up to a video that went viral of a woman being pulled by her hair at Gordos on Pensacola Street.

WCTV reached out to the owner of Gordos before airing the original story on Friday. While he did not want to go on camera, he issued the following statement:

He did not confirm on Friday whether or not the person seen in the video was an employee.

The man in the video, Trenton Peterson, reached out to WCTV after the story aired on Friday with the surveillance video. He also told WCTV reporter Staci Inez he wanted to clear his name.

WCTV spoke with Latoya Woolfolk on Friday. She is seen in the surveillance video throwing a chair and other items inside the restaurant. Peterson said this took place after Woolfolk and her friends were told to leave. Surveillance video shows them coming back inside the restaurant at one point.

The surveillance video also shows an exchange between Peterson and Woolfolk’s friends as they are leaving the restaurant for the second time.

Staci Inez was scheduled to talk with Peterson in-person, but a family member told WCTV he was advised not to do the interview.

Peterson was arrested and charged with Battery and False Imprisonment of an Adult on Jan. 22 after the incident at Gordos. The Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel was appointed Peterson’s case on Jan. 27.

Circuit Director Stacy Sharp issued the following statement regarding the case:

WCTV also reached out to Woolfolk to set up a second interview, but she and her attorney were unavailable Monday.

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