MIAMI — Police arrested a Miami man on an attempted first-degree murder charge on Wednesday in connection with a December stabbing attempt in the city’s Midtown neighborhood.
Jose Leonardo Chacon Martinez, 34, of Wynwood, is accused of trying to stab a victim after a disagreement about the authenticity of a pair of shoes and the victim questioning why Chacon’s immigration history was pertinent to said conversation.
A Miami Police Department detective called the whole thing a “trivial matter” that escalated unnecessarily.
Investigators said the crime happened just before 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 17.
According to an MPD arrest report, the victim told detectives that he was sitting with a group of friends near the Five Guys at 3256 Buena Vista Blvd. when Chacon approached them and started probing one of his friends about his Air Jordan shoes.
Chacon, police said, insisted the shoes were fake. Police said he asked the victim’s friend to remove it so he could take a closer look.
“The victim stated that when (Chacon) examined the shoe, he stated that he had never encountered a shoe where the name had been erased, indicating the shoes were counterfeit,” the report states. “The victim stated that his friend responded by explaining that the condition of the shoes was due to rain, sweat and normal wear.”
Chacon would not let it go, according to police, telling the group “that he arrived in this country eight years ago by plane and had owned many pairs of Jordans that did not look like that” and “that the group was younger and lacked knowledge regarding the shoes.”
Police said at that point, the victim interrupted Chacon and asked him “why it mattered whether he had been in the country for eight years or had arrived by plane.”
According to police, Chacon, a Venezuelan national, replied, “You’re going to ask me that? You guys are a bunch of kids.”
Police said the victim responded that “they were all the same people since everyone is human.”
Chacon continued to go on, police said, and the victim finally told him that it would “be best if he left.”
According to the report, this “agitated” Chacon, who said, “I am going to go get my gun” as he walked towards his scooter.
“I’ll be back, you shall see,” police said he told the victim.
Chacon followed through, but brought a knife instead of a gun, cops said.
Five to 10 minutes later, the victim “felt a tug on his shoulder,” according to the report.
“The victim stated that, believing it was his friends playing around, he turned around and observed (Chacon) holding a large kitchen knife, (with) which (he) attempted to stab him in the torso,” the report states. “The victim stated that he quickly stood up from the bench and took out his phone to record (Chacon).”
Police said the victim’s phone fell as Chacon made more attempts to stab him, but Chacon stopped after the victim got another phone from a friend to continue recording him.
Investigators said Chacon got into a vehicle driven by Gerdenson Rodriguez Ordonez, 28, of Little Havana, who also started arguing with the victim’s friends.
According to police, the victim kept recording and that caused Chacon to get out of the car in an attempt to stab him yet again. Police said he then got back in the car and the duo took off.
Police said the video captured Rodriguez’s license plate and they were able to find him for questioning two days later.
According to the report, Rodriguez, a delivery driver for DoorDash, claimed that Chacon, “whom he did not know,” came up to him that day and “informed him that Uber and DoorDash drivers were talking about him” at the eventual incident location, prompting him to drive there in an attempt to clear the air.
According to the report, Rodriguez claimed he had no idea what Chacon’s intentions were but admitted that he knew Chacon “committed a crime” and that he drove him away without calling the police.
Police said Rodriguez told detectives he took off because “other drivers were honking their horns at him” and that he didn’t call the police because “it was not his problem and he didn’t want to get in trouble.”
But he did get in trouble. Police arrested Rodriguez on a charge of accessory after the fact ― and the Colombian national remained jailed as of Thursday morning on that charge, several drug charges, as well as an immigration hold.
Meanwhile, police said they were able to identify Chacon as a suspect on Dec. 20 and he came to MPD’s downtown headquarters to turn himself in on Wednesday.
“Given (Chacon’s) violent nature regarding a trivial matter such as counterfeit shoes, (he) is an imminent risk to society,” an MPD detective concluded in the report. “I am requesting (he) be held without bond for the safety of the public.”
A judge agreed Thursday morning and Chacon remained jailed without bond. He also has an immigration hold.
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