MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A suspect was arrested Monday after police said he stabbed another man with a screwdriver multiple times during a brutal attack at an apartment in Miami Beach nearly two weeks ago.
According to an arrest report from the Miami Beach Police Department, James Darnell Dukes, 28, is facing one charge of second-degree attempted murder.
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Police said they responded around 9 p.m. Oct. 19 to the 1900 block of Park Avenue in reference to a battery investigation.
Upon arrival, Miami Beach police officers said they observed the victim complaining of pain to his head, upper body and right pinky toe when he told authorities that he could not stand or walk out of the apartment on his own following the attack.
The victim informed officers that his roommate, who police identified in an arrest report as Joel Lopez, entered the room with a hammer and was accompanied by Dukes, who was armed with a screwdriver that was located inside the room, according to the report.
Police said Lopez began to strike the victim with the hammer to his head at the same time Dukes was pushing the screwdriver in a jabbing motion onto the victim’s left abdominal area and left arm.
The victim said he defended himself and attempted to fight both Lopez and Dukes off of him but could not recall how many times he was hit with the hammer or stabbed with the screwdriver, the report stated.
The victim told police he believed that he was attacked because Lopez suspected him of stealing and then selling his watch, authorities said.
Upon police arrival, authorities said Lopez and Dukes fled the scene and the victim was able to locate the screwdriver that was allegedly used by Dukes in the attack.
The victim believed that Lopez fled with the hammer following the attack, police said.
Police spoke with a witness who told them that she heard a disturbance coming from the other room and saw Lopez and Dukes attacking the victim with the alleged weapons, the report stated.
The witness said when she pleaded with both men to stop and feared that they were going to kill the victim, both Lopez and Dukes responded by saying “That is the point,” according to the report.
The witness said she observed the victim being attacked by both men with the screwdriver and hammer, authorities said.
Police said Lopez and Dukes were both friends of the victim and witness.
After being interviewed by police, the witness corroborated her statement but also added that both Dukes and Lopez stated that they would later return to the apartment to “finish the job,” and kill the victim, according to the report.
After being discharged from the hospital, the victim was transported to the Miami Beach Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, where he told detectives that he was “in fear for his life” and believed he was going to die when the incident occurred, the report stated.
Police said they located Dukes on Monday near the apartment where the incident occurred, and he was taken to the MBPD’s Criminal Investigation Division to be interviewed.
According to his arrest report, Dukes did not admit to stabbing the victim multiple times with a screwdriver. The rest of his confession was redacted in his arrest report.
As of Tuesday, Dukes is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
An arrest search of Lopez did not have him listed on the Miami-Dade County’s Corrections and Rehabilitation website as of Tuesday afternoon.