FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 17-year-old girl was at a nightclub when she pushed a man who had groped her, so the man pulled out a knife and stabbed her and another 17-year-old girl who had demanded that he stay away from them, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Detectives later identified the man who had stabbed the two teenage girls at the SWAY Nightclub late last year in downtown Fort Lauderdale as Howard Earle, a Peeping Tom who had been arrested in 2019 for stalking two girls at their home in North Lauderdale.
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Earle, 46, was convicted of burglaries and voyeurism for cases on Nov. 30, 2018; Dec. 5, 2018; and Jan. 6, 2019, records show. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, his probation for the crimes began on Feb. 28, 2022, and was set to end in 2025.
Detectives found that Earle was on probation when he stabbed the two teenage girls at about 1:35 a.m., Nov. 27, at the SWAY Nightclub, at 111 SW 2nd Ave., and fled before police officers arrived, according to police. The girls survived and The U.S. Marshals arrested him on Wednesday in Lauderhill, police announced on Thursday.
Earle is facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, one count of sexual battery, and a violation of probation.
Watch surveillance video from the nightclub