Daily Mug Shots

The cash-strapped former owner of an abruptly closed South Daytona gymnastics studio turned herself in to authorities early Tuesday -- also snapping a glib photo of herself at a county jail to taunt her accusers and prove she'd surrendered.

Chrystal Hinchliffe, 27, who ran the failed Zero Gravity Gymnastics, said she has hired an attorney and is eager to put the criminal case behind her.

"I'm not a criminal. I've done nothing wrong," she said Tuesday night after she was booked at the Lee County Jail in Southwest Florida on a felony charge of organized scheme to defraud.

"I did close a business without notice, and if that's against the law, you might want to dig it up and show me where."

Hinchliffe, who is now living in St. James City near Cape Coral, was released early Tuesday after turning herself in and posting $20,000 bail, a jail officer said.

The local State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for Hinchliffe's arrest Friday, but South Daytona police had been investigating her since mid-April -- when several parents filed reports that she closed the studio despite taking their payments in advance.

Police said Hinchliffe collected $3,450 in tuition from at least 38 parents between April 6 and April 15, two days before a parent saw her packing the gym equipment into a moving truck at night.

A Facebook group of angry parents formed -- "Survivors of Zero Gravity Gymnastics" -- followed by a secret, password-protected blog for the accusers to discuss the case.

After her jail release, Hinchliffe set loose a string of sharp-tongued posts on the Survivors group's page Tuesday, including one in reference to her quick jail stay: "1:02 a.m. to 2:59 a.m., not too shabby," she wrote.

She also posted a photo of her booking sheet and a portrait of herself in front of a glass Lee County Sheriff's Office door, her tongue sticking out and eyebrows raised.

Hinchliffe stressed Tuesday that she had no choice but to shut down the gym, that the parents should file civil, not criminal, complaints, and the intense attention to her arrest is unwarranted.

"We're in no kind of scheme. We're no Bonnie and Clyde," she said of her and her mother, Hollie Terry, who also taught at Zero Gravity and owned it previously. Police have not accused Terry of any wrongdoing.

"There is no way you can close a business without owing somebody something," Hinchliffe said. "Let it rest in peace for the children, if it's about the children. I'm tired of being judged and slandered."

The original police report in Hinchliffe's case indicated she snapped at a police officer: "If the parents have a problem, they can sue me!" She reiterated that Tuesday, but said what little money she has has been frozen by her bank. "If people want their money back, they need to go into (the bank) and raise hell," she said. "There's no money tree in my backyard. If there's one in yours, then I'll come pick.