KENDALL, Fla. – A former Cuban baseball player and Olympic silver medalist was arrested Wednesday morning by Miami-Dade police after he was caught on camera waving a machete outside a shopping plaza in Kendall.
According to authorities, officers responded to the plaza in the area of Southwest 127th Avenue and Kendall Drive just before 6:30 a.m. after receiving reports about a man walking in the parking lot while armed with a machete.
The shopping plaza houses a Home Depot and Flanigan’s, among other businesses.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, Oscar Macias Hernandez, 54, also matched the description of a man who was wanted for an aggravated battery that occurred the previous day in the same area.
Employees at a nearby cafeteria said despite once being a renowned baseball player, Macias Hernandez is now homeless and suffers from mental illness.
Cellphone video shows officers surrounding the armed man before he was stunned with a Taser and taken to the ground.
According to the arrest report, officers initially approached Macias-Hernandez as he was standing in the center of the Home Depot parking lot and ordered him to remove his hands from his pocket.
Police said Macias-Hernandez lifted his shirt and removed a sheathed machete from his waistband, holding it at his side.
According to the report, one officer ordered Macias-Hernandez to drop the machete and he responded in Spanish, “I’m going to hit you across the face with my machete.”
Police said Macias-Hernandez would partially unsheathe the machete as they approached him, “readying himself to attack.”
According to the report, Macias-Hernandez threatened to kill one of the officers if he continued to get closer.
An officer eventually stunned Macias-Hernandez with her Taser, causing him to fall to the ground, at which time he was taken into custody.
Macias-Hernandez faces charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, battery with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer with violence and trespassing on a property after receiving a warning.
Police confirmed that no one was seriously injured during the incident.
However, one man told Local 10 News that he was one of the victims from the incident and was hit three times by Macias-Hernandez with a machete.
“He (Macias-Hernandez) has attacked others before and is mentally ill,” the man said.
Records show Macias-Hernandez has a previous arrest history in Miami-Dade County dating back to 2006. He’s previously faced various charges, including petit theft, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm or weapon.