Injury At Plies Concert

A University of Florida student suffered a broken leg when an excited crowd shoved forward to get close to the stage during an Oct. 31 Plies concert.

The Gainesville Sun said Sandi Bastien, her sister and friends had spots along a metal guard railing separating about 1,200 concertgoers from the stage at the Ocala Entertainment Complex. The rapper took the stage at about 1 a.m. and allegedly began egging the crowd on to jump over the guardrails, the paper said.

Bastien’s leg reportedly got tangled in the guardrail as she was spun around by the crush of people. She was taken to a nearby hospital where surgery was performed to insert a metal rod in her leg, the Sun said.

Venue co-owner Bobby Tillander told the paper that 65 security guards, 20 off-duty police officers and paramedics were onsite when Plies allegedly incited the crowd crush.

“[Plies] said something about jump over the railing and everybody started to jump over it,” Tillander told the Sun. “We had a very expensive railing installed for the artist’s safety and this idiot goes and does something like that.

“I’m not going to tolerate that type of action. He won’t be welcome back to this venue again.”