MIAMI – A man was just about to get back into his Porsche in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood on July 23 when he saw a red Hyundai pull up; behind the wheel was an armed convicted felon, police said.
That convict, Marcus Bernard Finch, would end up being charged with two counts of attempted murder after police said he set off a gunfight in which the Porsche driver, a woman and he himself were wounded.
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Finch, 40, of southwest Miami-Dade, is no stranger to that charge. He was released from prison on March 8 after a 2008 attempted murder conviction.
The shootout
Police said the July gun battle that would land him back behind bars happened at around 10:45 a.m. in the 1700 block of Northwest 44th Street.
According to an arrest report, the first victim had been walking back to his Porsche when Finch arrived in a rented Sonata with stolen tags. Police said Finch got out of the car, grabbed the man’s shoulder and held a pistol to his head, telling him “If you move, Ima kill you.”
Police said Finch then looked down, noticed the victim had a gun of his own in his waistband, pointed at it and asked “What’s that you have there?”
The victim drew his pistol and shot Finch, who “yelled out in pain” and then a struggle for the victim’s gun ensued. Police said Finch eventually gained control of the victim’s gun and shot him in the left arm, police said.
However, Finch had dropped his own gun in the scuffle and the victim was able to pick it up and fire back, shooting Finch in the torso, the report states.
Amid the gunfight, a woman who was at the scene, identified as the second victim, ended up shot in the hip.
Police said Finch jumped in the woman’s Jeep and told her to get him “out of there,” which she did, dropping him off at the Caraf Oil gas station at 4770 NW 17th Ave. and a witness called 911. They said that witness would later drive with the female victim to Jackson North Medical Center.
Medics picked up Finch from the gas station and took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital, while the male victim drove himself home, called police and was also taken to JMH.
New charges and past record
Finch, who has a lengthy criminal record, faced a charge of felon in possession of a firearm in addition to the two new attempted murder charge. His arrest report doesn’t make clear if or how he knew the victims.
Details of his 2008 attempted murder conviction, which stemmed from charges filed on Oct. 14, 2003, weren’t readily available Tuesday afternoon.
Records show Finch had first been released from prison in 2015 after serving 12 years, but ended up in state custody twice more after probation violations.
State records show Finch has been known by a number of aliases and street names, including “James Mickens,” “Cedric Palmer,” “Joshua White” and “Big Point.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held in Ward D, a specialized unit at JMH that houses inmates “who require specialized medical treatment.”