MIAMI – Miami-Dade police said a self-described “hardcore biker” threatened a South Florida social media influencer and comedian who made an Instagram post that “made fun (of) and criticized bicyclists for disobeying traffic laws and obstructing roadways,” leading to his arrest on three felony charges.
An arrest report states that police spotted Andres Alfredo Riviere, 39, riding his bike at Hobie Island Beach Park on Virginia Key on Wednesday and took him into custody. While he lives in the Hillsborough County community of Riverview, Riviere said in court Thursday that he’s in South Florida monthly to visit his daughters.
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Police said Riviere first started threatening the influencer, whose identity was redacted from the report, via Instagram direct message on Monday. According to the report, the victim lives in Palmetto Bay.
“Riviere told the victim that he is a hardcore biker and accused the victim of being the reason as to why Miami drivers don’t respect bikers,” police wrote.
Authorities said he told the influencer, “I’m gonna whoop dat a--” and said he would “give him a Colombian neck tie.”
“It is important to note that a Colombian neck tie is a method of execution in which the victim’s throat is slashed vertically, then his tongue is pulled out through the gaping wound toward the sternum, after which the victim usually dies of asphyxiation or blood loss,” police wrote.
Police said the threats continued Wednesday.
Authorities said Riviere said “he was going to show up to the victim’s standup comedy show on Saturday and slap him after he gets off stage while his boy videotapes it” and later sent the influencer a picture showing his full name and address along with other identifying information, saying, “Maybe I’ll pass by later.”
The report states that Riviere also sent the influencer “a video of his son hitting a detergent box with a toy saying that even his son, who is 5 years old, will whoop his lard a--.”
Police said after taking Riviere into custody, he claimed his Instagram account was hacked. Police said Riviere still had access to the account and allowed police to search his phone.
Authorities said all of the messages were there, along with the video of Riviere’s young son, which police noted was “saved on his cellphone, not on his Instagram account.”
“If his Instagram account was hacked, the hacker would only have access to whatever information is on his Instagram account, not on his actual saved files of the phone,” the report states. “Therefore, the hacker would not have access to the video of his son.”
In court Thursday, Riviere disputed the arrest report, claiming the video was also posted to his Instagram account.
Prosecutors noted that Riviere has a history of arrests for various charges in Miami-Dade County, including felony battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, though all cases were later dropped.
Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause to charge him Thursday with two counts of written threats to kill or do bodily injury and one count of aggravated stalking. She ordered him to have no contact with the victim.
As of Thursday, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $10,000 bond.