MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A man was beaten over the weekend during a robbery near his apartment on South Beach, authorities said.
David Johnson, 42, suffered multiple lacerations to the left side of his face Saturday after he was robbed about 3 a.m. while skateboarding to his apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue, an incident report said.
Johnson, whose cellphone and wallet were stolen, later posted a video on Facebook detailing the attack.
"I passed two guys, I didn't think anything of it," Johnson said. "I was on my skateboard, they came up, passed me. I skateboarded past them and about 10 feet they both came up from behind me and slammed my face into the ground."
Police said the incident happened at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street.
"Their goal, I think, was to knock me unconscious," Johnson said. "They fought with me. I tried to hang on to my wallet and my phone, but they kept throwing me down to the ground and I lost control of both."
Police said Johnson called authorities several hours after the robbery because he didn't have access to a phone.
According to the report, Johnson tried to chase the robbers, but lost sight of them at Espanola Way.
"One took off running south and one took off running west, and I just had no way to do anything about it," Johnson said.
Johnson was taken by his roommate to Mount Sinai Medical Center for treatment.
Johnson told Local 10 he was not ready for an on-camera interview on Monday, but did speak briefly with reporters over the phone.
He said he wanted to post the video to Facebook to let friends and family know he was okay, and would likely be without a phone for several days.
When asked why he refused treatment from paramedics, as indicated in the incident report, he said he wanted to speak more to detectives before answering questions about details from the night of the incident.
The robbers are described by police only as black males.
Anyone with information about their identities is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
My condition - Assault & Robbery on South Beach
Posted by David H Johnson on Sunday, April 17, 2016
