MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 20-year-old man was arrested Thursday after allegedly attacking a restaurant manager on Lincoln Road, giving police a false name and threatening an officer following his arrest, Miami Beach police confirmed in an arrest report Friday.
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Jail records show Tony Montez Defell is facing one count each of battery, providing false information after arrest, threatening to harm a law enforcement officer, illegal possession of a controlled substance, attempted possession of cannabis under 20 grams and criminal mischief.
Officers with the Miami Beach Police Department said they responded just after 1 p.m. to Ole Ole Steakhouse, located at 626 Lincoln Rd., regarding a reported battery.
Witnesses said a man had struck the manager before fleeing the scene, according to the report.
The report stated that surveillance footage showed Defell wearing a white shirt, white pants and carrying a green backpack at the time he fled the scene.
Using information from the MBPD’s Real Time Crime Center, officers said they located Defell while he was shirtless but still carrying the backpack near the 1300 block of Washington Avenue.
They said he was taken into custody around 1:45 p.m.
At first, police said Defell refused to provide identification and later gave the name “Michael More” with a birth date of March 3, 2003.
They later determined the name was false after identifying him through jail records.
The victim was brought to the scene and identified Defell as the person who struck him, according to police. The victim also provided cellphone video and a sworn statement.
During a search of Defell’s backpack, police said they found a dark brown bottle of suspected promethazine and two clear baggies of suspected marijuana.
Investigators said the substances were impounded as evidence, and the suspected promethazine was sent to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office lab for testing.
While inside the holding facility, Defell allegedly told an officer, “When I get out, I’m going to come find you and smack the s--t out of you,” according to the report.
Police also said he “purposely urinated” outside of a working toilet in his holding cell, resulting in an approximate $250 cleaning fee for the department.
A motive for the alleged attack on the restaurant manager is unclear at this time.
As of Friday, Defell was being held on a $4,800 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
