MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 21-year-old man from Ohio remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Wednesday after witnesses accused him of attacking a hostel customer in Miami Beach. Detectives suspect the attacker was also involved in street narcotics sales.
The victim told police officers he was having drinks and food about 2:25 p.m., on Monday, at the Beds n’ Drinks Hostel, at 1676 James Ave., when he noticed a belligerent drunken man who police later identified as Jason Dyer-Mitchell.
Dyer-Mitchell, of Heath, Ohio, was drinking out of a bottle of Ciroc Vodka and he was being loud and obnoxious before the unprovoked attack, witnesses told police. One video from a witness shows the menacing attacker standing by a dining table while holding a silver sharp object behind him.
“The defendant had what appeared to be a nail between his knuckles and struck the victim with it,” an officer wrote in the arrest report.
Dyer-Mitchell hit the victim at least twice in the face and neck, and after knocking him down to the floor, he shouted at him before walking away from the hostel with a bottle in hand, according to the arrest form.
Several witnesses intervened. Three followed Dyer-Mitchell, called 911, and one remained on the phone with dispatch until police officers found him.
Dyer-Mitchell was wearing a red T-shirt and gray shorts, he was still holding the bottle of vodka and he was carrying a black backpack with cash and illegal drugs, police said. The witnesses identified him as the man in the attack at the hostel.
An officer handcuffed Dyer-Mitchell outside of Paul, a French bakery on the corner of Lincoln Road and Drexel Avenue.
Dyer-Mitchell is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of ecstasy, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and possession of an open container of alcohol.
Read the excerpts from the arrest form