NORTH BAY VILLAGE, Fla. – Police arrested a Miami man over the weekend after they say he terrorized a woman and her children at their North Bay Village apartment and then tried to bribe a responding police officer whom he headbutted and kicked.
Youssef Elzein, 27, of Brickell, faces more than a dozen criminal charges in connection with the incident, which police said happened just before 2:45 a.m. Sunday at an apartment building on South Treasure Drive.
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Police said the woman arrived home that morning with her children, ages 6 and 14, and went to open her door. According to the arrest report, before she could do so, Elzein “rapidly” opened it instead, startling her.
The report states that Elzein, who had apparently been in a relationship with the woman at some point, had entered her apartment without permission through an unlocked sliding glass door.
The victim, shocked by Elzein’s presence, stepped back and walked into the building’s elevator with her children, but before the doors closed, he grabbed the three and “shoved” them into the apartment and placed himself in front of the door so they couldn’t leave, the report states.
Police said the woman told her 14-year-old son to call police while she grabbed a gun.
Fearing for his mother’s safety, the boy grabbed a knife and told Elzein to leave, police said.
Elzein responded by placing the boy into a headlock and disarming him, the report states. The woman then pointed the gun at Elzein and told him to release her son; police would arrive soon after.
After police arrived, Elzein claimed he didn’t know why police were there and said he and his girlfriend had been drinking beers on the patio when he went inside and accidentally broke a fish tank and wound up cutting himself in the hand and foot in the process of repairing it.
He would later change his story and claim the woman gave him a key to get into the apartment and said he was there waiting for her to arrive home.
Police said as they took Elzein into custody, he tried to run towards the woman. Then, as they placed him into a cruiser, he began kicking responding officers, the report states.
According to the report, Elzein kicked and headbutted North Bay Village police Cpl. Ethan Cherasia “multiple times” and also struck two assisting Miami Beach police officers multiple times.
Elzein would later attempt to bribe Cherasia, police said, by telling him that the officer could “have everything on (his) wrist” if he would let him go and said, “Take care of me and I’ll take care of you; you don’t have to arrest me.”
Police did arrest Elzein, however, on a total of 14 felony and misdemeanor counts, including burglary, bribery, false imprisonment of a child under 13, child abuse and resisting an officer with violence.
He was no longer listed in Miami-Dade jail records as of early Monday afternoon.