MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 71-year-old man was arrested after deputies said he pepper-sprayed three people during a confrontation in a Publix parking lot in southwest Miami-Dade.
The incident occurred just before 3:30 p.m. at a Publix located at 15771 SW 152nd St. in the county’s Country Walk area, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the suspect, Julio Rodriguez, is accused of accelerating his vehicle toward a man who was attempting to cross the parking lot to retrieve a shopping cart, nearly striking him.
The victim, David Guzman, told Local 10’s Rosh Lowe that a verbal argument followed, during which Rodriguez reached into his vehicle’s center console, retrieved a bottle of pepper spray, exited the car and sprayed Guzman, his wife and his uncle while Guzman’s 2-year-old was with him.
Deputies said Rodriguez then got back into his vehicle and fled the scene.
Guzman was able to provide officers with a photo of the vehicle’s license plate, according to the report.
“They washed all of our eyes out,” said Guzman. “My face was burning because he literally sprayed me three feet away from him. Never in my life did I think that would ever happen for me.”
“He opens the door on me, and my wife sees that he’s coming out, so she gets scared. She gets in the car and pushes it toward him, telling him to stay back,” Guzman added. “At that time, he maced me again, then maced my wife and my uncle. He then started macing random people.”
Local 10 News exclusively obtained video in which Guzman’s wife can be heard complaining about the pepper spray in her eyes.
Authorities later located Rodriguez, who lives near the Publix where the incident occurred, and took him into custody without further incident, the report states.
Deputies said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported Rodriguez to Jackson South Medical Center before he was taken to jail.
Jail records show he is facing one count of aggravated battery on a person 65 years or older and two counts of battery.
As of Wednesday, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed at $3,000. He was also ordered to stay away from the victims.
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