SWEETWATER, Fla. – Luis Chavez was watching "No Manches Frida 2" in a movie theater at the Dolphin Mall when he felt someone's foot bumping his seat from behind. Chavez turned around, told the man sitting behind him to stop bumping his seat and then directed a homophobic slur at the man in Spanish.
The man sitting behind Chavez stood up and told Chavez to stop disrespecting him in front of his children, but Chavez didn't back down, lunging at the man and stabbing him twice, police said.
Chavez, 56, was arrested in connection with Saturday's attack. He faces charges of aggravated battery causing bodily harm and disorderly conduct.
According to an arrest affidavit, Chavez used a pocketknife to stab the other theatergoer on his left abdomen and right arm.
Police said Chavez ran out of the theater after the incident and into a women's restroom, where he dumped the knife in a bathroom stall.
A police officer who was working an off-duty detail at the mall followed Chavez into the restroom and held him at gunpoint until backup arrived, the affidavit said.
Chavez was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center early Sunday. He also faces charges of resisting an officer without violence and tampering with physical evidence.
The stabbing victim was taken to a hospital to be treated, but his condition hasn't been disclosed.
A Miami-Dade County judge ordered Monday that Chavez be placed on house arrest after he is released from jail on bond.