MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 44-year-old man was arrested Monday, weeks after he blocked off a teenage girl’s car with his Nissan Xterra and punched one of the rear-view mirrors of the vehicle, breaking it, authorities said.
According to an arrest report, the incident began at the intersection of Southwest 95th Street and 117th Avenue in Miami-Dade County on the night of Dec. 27.
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"As soon as the light turned from red to green, this person just left the honk on her," the victim’s mother told Local 10 News. "She honked back, and this just made the person even more upset. And this man tried to drive her off the road twice."
The woman said her 17-year-old daughter pulled into an apartment complex, trying to get away from the other driver, identified by police as Mario Garcia-Saravia, of Miami.
It was outside the gate of that complex where the situation went from bad to worse.
"Seconds later, his car comes in at an angle to block her from coming in and out. Then he charges at her car," the mother said.
According to the arrest report, Garcia-Saravia told the victim’s boyfriend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, to “Get the f*** out of the car,” and then punched the rear-view mirror, breaking it.
The victim’s boyfriend locked the door, but the teenage girl got out of the car and was confronted by a woman who was a passenger in the suspect’s SUV.
“'You shouldn’t have honked back at us. You’re the one sleeping at the light,'” the woman said, according to the victim’s mother.
The victim’s mother said two other women were also inside the suspect’s SUV.
The teen and her boyfriend later identified Garcia-Saravia to police in a photo lineup.
He was arrested on a charge of criminal mischief.
Authorities said it cost $791 to repair the broken rear-view mirror.