MIAMI – A tourist wants detectives to catch the two muscular men who recently turned his Miami vacation into a traumatic experience in Brickell. They left him unconscious on the sidewalk in a pool of blood.
The tourist, who does not want to be identified, said he was able to get a surveillance video showing how he was attacked about 5:30 a.m. Jan. 2 near the corner of South Miami Avenue and Southwest 11th Street.
After fun with friends, he said, he had planned to catch an early morning flight. Instead, paramedics rushed him to Mercy Hospital, where a doctor used surgical staples to close a gaping wound in the back of his head. He said he also required plastic surgery back home.
The victim was walking with coffee in hand when he saw the two men near a convenience store. He was approaching a liquor store when he noticed the men were following him and decided to run. The surveillance video shows when he threw the coffee at his attacker’s face, and the man responded with a knockout punch.
“I just really hope that this is a learning situation for residents, for tourists,” the victim said. “No matter how safe like beautiful Brickell might be, I think you always need to be aware of your surroundings.”
The video also shows the men rummaging through his pockets for his cash and iPhone while he was unconscious.
According to the police report, when officers first made contact with the victim, he told them he had been out drinking and didn’t remember what had happened. The victim said he has no recollection of that because he was unconscious, as the video shows.
The victim is asking anyone with information about his attackers to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.