MIAMI – A man accused of stabbing a Miami police officer who was working off duty at the Magic City Casino last week has been identified by police as Jose Carvajal-Lopez.
Carvajal-Lopez, 28, posted $20,000 bond after he was arrested on charges of attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. He remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound.
Police said casino staff requested help from officers just before 1 a.m. Thursday to remove a belligerent patron from the premises.
During the confrontation, Officer Raul Perez and Carvajal-Lopez ended up wrestling on the floor, police said.
According to an arrest report, Carvajal-Lopez appeared to be intoxicated and tried to stab Perez in the face and neck.
The officer was stabbed once in the cheek and fired a single shot at Carvajal-Lopez before another officer could subdue the suspect, the report said.
Perez was also taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and was later released.
Miami Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz sent a letter Monday to Miami-Dade County Judge Mindy Glazer expressing his outrage that Carvajal-Lopez wasn't given a higher bond.
"There is no possible claim of self-defense by this defendant, who was observed by many stabbing our police officer," Ortiz wrote. "Our Miami police officer was in full uniform. The defendant had total disregard for not only the public at the Magic City Casino, but for a law enforcement officer. Our police officer wasn't just stabbed in the face. He also sustained a fracture to one of his limbs due to the barbaric actions of this defendant. Just because the defendant wasn't successful in repeatedly stabbing our police officer doesn't mean he wasn't trying to kill him."
Ortiz ended the letter by requesting that the judge revoke Carvajal-Lopez's bond.
According to Miami-Dade County courts spokeswoman Eunice Sigler, under Florida law, both charges Carvajal-Lopez faces are bondable offenses.
"Unless the officer completing the arrest affidavit checks off the box marked 'Hold for Bond Hearing. Do Not Bond Out,' a defendant can post standard bond and be released from jail without appearing before a judge," Sigler said in an email to Local 10 News.
Ortiz later sent an apology letter to Glazer, but maintained that an "attempted cop killer should not be walking free on the streets of Miami."