Man speaks to Local 10 News about brutal mugging on South Beach

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A man who was beaten during a robbery on South Beach over the weekend spoke Tuesday to Local 10 News about the attack.

"They threw me face first into the ground," David Johnson said.

Johnson, 42, suffered two black eyes, a broken nose and cheek and gashes to the left side of his face in Saturday's mugging.

Police said he was robbed about 3 a.m. while skateboarding to his apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue.

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 (beyond that), they both came up from behind me and slammed my face into the ground."

"They didn't even give me a chance," he told Local 10 News reporter Derek Shore. "They just really blindsided me from behind and jumped me."

Police said the incident happened at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street.

"I had one foot on the skateboard and one foot on the ground, and just two guys came up from behind me, threw me face first into the ground as hard they could," Johnson said. "My whole trauma, what you see around the eye, is from that first initial impact. Blood obviously started spurting, and I just knew I was in trouble."

Johnson said the two men slammed him to the ground three times.

"I feel like they just really wanted to get me unconscious so they could take what they could from me," he said.

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.

He told Local 10 News that he hopes his story is a reminder to people that despite South Beach being heavily populated in some areas, it can still be dangerous to walk alone.

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.