MIAMI – A Miami Beach man is accused of fondling a 7-year-old girl while they were in the checkout line of a Sedano's supermarket in Miami, police said.
Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 59, was arrested Friday on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to an arrest affidavit, Gonzalez was standing behind the girl in the checkout line when he touched her vagina and buttocks over her dress.
The girl told her father as they were about to leave the store, at which time the father notified a manager and asked to see the surveillance video.
Police said the video showed Gonzalez touching her buttocks and private parts several times.
When the father confronted Gonzalez, he tried to leave, but the father held him down until police arrived.
According to the affidavit, Gonzalez pulled out a pocket knife and told the father in Spanish, "If you hit me, I'll stab you."
The father declined to speak to Local 10 News about the incident.
"At Sedano's, our customers' safety and well-being have always been one of our top priorities," Sedano's spokesman Javier Herran said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to the victim and her family. We are fully cooperating with authorities in their ongoing investigation and, thus, cannot comment further."