2 charged in unprovoked attack on family outside gas station

SILVER SPRINGS, Fla. — Two Florida residents have been charged after surveillance footage outside a Silver Springs Circle K captured footage last month of their reportedly unprovoked attack on a family, including an 11-year-old girl.

Julia Marie Napiontek, 18, is charged with battery and aggravated child abuse and Brandon Azora Clanton, 18, is charged with battery and simple assault on a police officer, court records show.

Marion County Sheriff's Office officials reported that three of the four victims were standing next to or sitting in their truck outside the convenience store on Sept. 22 when the attack took place. The surveillance footage shows Napiontek and Clanton approach a blonde woman standing outside the passenger side door and begin to argue with the woman.

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The female victim steps toward Napiontek, at which time Napiontek grabs her by the hair and begins hitting her. The 11-year-old girl, who was sitting inside the truck’s cabin, steps out and rushes toward the blonde woman, at which point Napiontek appears to punch the child in the face and drag her onto the concrete.

A third female who had been sitting in the bed of the truck jumps out in an apparent effort to help defend her family. Napiontek starts hitting her as well, as the blonde woman cradles the 11-year-old in her lap, appearing to cover the girl’s head with her own body.

Clanton does not appear to hit any of the female victims, but he can be seen scuffling with a male victim who had been inside the store when the attack began.

During the melee, a bystander is seen watching the attack and sipping from a fountain drink before walking away and getting into his own car.

See the surveillance footage of the attack here. Warning: The images may be too graphic for some viewers. 

When the beating is over, Napiontek and Clanton walk away but return to continue the attack. At one point, the 11-year-old is seen fleeing across the parking lot. The blonde woman runs after her and they take cover near the fuel tanks as Clanton and Napiontek get in their car and drive away.

"Deputies pulled the surveillance footage from the store and easily identified the assailants," Marion County Sheriff's Office officials said in a statement.

Investigators said the Sept. 22 incident is not the first in which Clanton has been charged with violently attacking a stranger. Clanton was out on bond after being charged with aggravated child abuse in an Aug. 23 attack at another convenience store.

In that incident, Clanton was accused of approaching a 17-year-old boy inside the store and hitting him multiple times, again with no provocation.

"The teenager needed seven stitches on his face because of the unprovoked attack," authorities said in the statement. "The teenager was just trying to get his grandmother something to drink from the store when he was attacked by Clanton."

Clanton was out on bond just six days before the Sept. 22 attack. He and Napiontek were arrested Sept. 27 in connection to the latest incident.

Napiontek has since been released on bond from the Marion County Jail. Clanton is being held without bail.

Cox Media Group