MIAMI – A 48-year-old Miami man is facing charges after police say he assaulted his cousin and wounded another man in a dispute that stemmed from an argument over an air fryer last month.
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According to the Miami Police Department, the incident happened on May 6 at an undisclosed location. Officers said Antiwone Johnson became angry after confronting his cousin about an air fryer he didn’t have.
Johnson’s cousin told police he had been hanging out on a patio when Johnson approached him and questioned him about the appliance.
After a brief exchange, police said Johnson went into his apartment, grabbed a broomstick, and returned to strike his cousin with it — breaking the stick across his back.
A friend of Johnson’s, who was also at the scene, tried to intervene, according to the report. That’s when police said Johnson swung the broken broomstick again and struck the man’s left hand, causing a deep cut and “significant bleeding.”
The cousin’s aunt called police while Johnson fled the scene on an electric scooter, according to the report.
Police said the victims were able to identify Johnson from a photograph provided by investigators.
In a separate statement, they said the wounded friend told officers that he heard the initial argument from the back of the patio.
He said the confrontation started over a “hot plate” and that Johnson accidentally hit his grandmother during the initial scuffle, according to the report. The friend said he moved the grandmother out of harm’s way before being struck in the hand, the report stated.
Police later attempted to contact Johnson’s grandmother by phone but were unable to reach her.
Johnson turned himself in to Miami police on Monday and invoked his right to remain silent, authorities said.
Jail records show Johnson is facing one count each of aggravated battery on a person 65 years or older, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with great bodily harm.
As of Tuesday, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”
