The mother and grandmother of Marcia Sangronis, a Cuban-American officer from the North Bay Village Police Department, publicly defended the officer, offering a version that is radically different from the one presented in the police report following her arrest on Tuesday in Hialeah.
Sangronis, 38 years old, was arrested by the Hialeah Police after her boyfriend, Ricardo Olivera, 30 years old, reported that she scratched his arms, face, and back, and bit him repeatedly on the left forearm when he tried to end the relationship.
The agents documented three bite marks, one of which broke the skin.
"The only defense was to bite."
In statements to Univision, Sangronis' mother flatly rejected Olivera's account and asserted that her daughter acted in self-defense.
“She defended herself because she came looking for trouble, she grabbed her by the hair and my daughter has a bruise here and my daughter is covered in scratches,” the mother stated in front of the cameras from the channel.
The officer's grandmother, who according to the family allegedly witnessed the incident directly at home, was even more emphatic: “She had her by the arms, and her only defense was to bite. To bite him, because she had her.”
Both relatives described Olivera as "obsessive" and "toxic," and emphasized the young woman's profile prior to the events.
"They pointed out, 'She has always been a diligent girl.'"
Olivera's version: "It wasn't the first time."
Olivera also spoke exclusively with Univision over the phone and provided a contrasting account.
He stated that the episode on Tuesday was not an isolated incident, but part of a recurring pattern over the two years of their relationship, characterized by breakups and reconciliations.
According to him, he was trying to distance himself, and she was the one preventing it.
The police report partially supports his account: according to the report, Sangronis stood in front of the door and told him, "You can't leave," when he tried to leave, and attacked him again when he insisted on going out.
Olivera also stated that Sangronis became "furious and violent" every time they discussed her lack of motivation to progress in her police career.
The testimony of a neighbor
An anonymous neighbor, whose previous testimony was gathered by Telemundo 51, provided a different and closer perspective to that of Sangronis' mother and grandmother.
"I saw that it was the man who was preventing her from leaving. She was telling him that she was going to call the police, and he kept saying no, that she should promise him she wouldn't call the police," the witness stated.
This statement has not been independently verified and contrasts with what is reported in the police report.
Sangronis's statement to the investigators is redacted in the report, and his lawyer did not comment.
Legal and labor consequences
At his court appearance on Wednesday, Sangronis initially faced a charge of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony in Florida punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The magistrate reduced the charge to simple assault— a misdemeanor— and set a bail of $1,000.
She was also ordered not to have any contact with Olivera and was enrolled in a pre-trial supervision program.
The North Bay Village Police Department relieved her of her duties with pay and stated in a press release that "the department demands the highest standards of conduct from all its personnel and holds them fully accountable for their actions, both on and off duty."
According to records cited by NBC Miami, Sangronis had sworn in as an officer in 2025 and was on probation at the time of the arrest, which leaves her with fewer employment protections than career officers.
The reduction of charges at the initial hearing does not imply a final resolution: the prosecutor retains the authority to maintain or elevate the charges in later stages of the process.
Filed under: