DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Deputies arrested a wanted Dania Beach man at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport late Monday night; he’s accused of delivering a “sucker punch” to a hotel worker soon after becoming enraged that his card was declined and he couldn’t book a room.
According to a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant, the incident happened at around 11 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the Avid Hotel, located at 3001 SW 26th Terrace in Dania Beach.
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A BSO detective wrote in the warrant that Bernardo Gray, 33, had gone to the hotel seeking accommodations for the night.
But his card “declined several times,” authorities said.
Gray tried entering the card number manually, but a front desk worker told him he couldn’t pay that way and would need to use a card with a chip.
Gray, enraged over not being able to make the payment, slapped the worker on the face while he was looking down, the detective wrote.
As Gray left the building, the worker followed him outside to try to get his license plate number, deputies said. While doing so, Gray got out of his BMW, went up to the worker and punched him in the face, the warrant states.
That blow caused the worker to lose consciousness and fall to the ground and by time the worker became conscious again, Gray had gone, deputies said.
The worker received a “severe laceration” requiring medical treatment; the warrant states the wound left him permanently scarred.
Both the slap and the punch were caught on surveillance video and screenshots were included in the warrant.
Authorities would locate Gray after the new year — at around 11:30 p.m. Monday at FLL — apparently as he was about to board a flight.
Gray, who has a lengthy history of criminal court cases in Broward County, including two pending grand theft cases, was being held in the BSO Main Jail on a $16,000 bond as of Wednesday afternoon.
He’s been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and misdemeanor battery.