A knife-wielding man is behind bars after he was confronted by a Miami Beach store owner who said he damaged the store, and the tense exchange was caught on camera.
Speaking with 7News on Wednesday, Ali Fayad, the owner of Samaya Smoke Shop on Washington Avenue, near 14th Street, said he was hearing weird noises coming from inside his store on the night of March 11.
Videos obtained exclusively by 7News captured the angry Fayad seething at the suspect as he walked away from the store.
“I got you on camera! Right now, you’re going to jail! Stop!” yelled Fayad. “You scratching the [expletive] windows! You going to jail, you [expletive].”
Fayad said the man, identified as Christopher Martinez, was scratching the window of his store.
According to the arrest report, Fayad “heard a scratching noise coming from inside his business and observed the defendant purposely vandalizing the window of his business.”
The store owner went ahead to confront the knife-wielding Martinez, but the suspect wasn’t having it.
“At that point, the defendant turned around and began swinging the knife in Mr. Fayad’s direction,” read the arrest report.
Fayad wasn’t hurt. He kept his distance while recording the confrontation, as they both walked away from the smoke shop.
Cellphone footage taken by Fayad shows what appears to be that object in Martinez’s hand, before he drops it.
Seconds later, Miami Beach Police officers arrive to where Fayad was, just four blocks from police headquarters.
“The police right here! Wait! Yeah!” yells Fayad.
Fayad detailed what he observed to the officers.
“He scratched my (inaudible), I saw him scraping!” said Fayad.
“Do you wanna report? Did he damage your window?” asked an officer.
“Yeah,” said Fayad.
The owner said the violent vandal hit his shop and others, costing his business $1,000 in damages that night.
“He’s going to hurt someone,” Fayad said to officers.
Officers reviewed Fayad’s footage and begin searching for Martinez.
“Subject, walking with a knife southbound on Washington Avenue, scratching windows of a business,” said an officer in radio transmissions.
A Be-on-the-Lookout was issued over the police radio as officers described the man while watching the surveillance video.
“Hispanic male, dark colored hair, about 5[-foot-]5, goatee, black shirt,” said the officer.
Minutes later, officers spotted the man.
“Hey, subject might be sitting down right here,” said an officer.
And they immediately took him into custody.
“Do me a favor. Put your hands behind your back,” said the officer in Spanish.
“We have the subject,” said another officer.
Martinez faces several charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief.
He remains locked up pending trial.