MIAMI – A 54-year-old man from Miami was arrested Monday after police said he attacked two victims with a machete during a dispute over $80.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, the incident occurred shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday at a home near the 2000 block of Northwest 37th Street in Miami.
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City of Miami police said officers responded to the home after receiving a call about an aggravated assault.
Police said officers found the suspect, Orestes Romeu, inside his vehicle.
According to the report, one of the victims, who police identified as Raimundo Perez, was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital by Miami Fire Rescue for a laceration to his head.
Police said a second victim, who they identified as Victor Verhondo, told police he witnessed an argument between Perez and Romeu over money on the front porch of Perez’s home.
Verhondo told detectives as the argument between both men escalated, Romeu retrieved a machete from his white Ford pickup truck that was parked in front of the home.
Police said Verhondo intervened, but Romeu thrust the machete at him, causing a visible red mark on his abdomen.
An arrest report states Romeu then cut Perez on the head with the machete.
Moments later, Verhondo wrestled Romeu to the ground, disarmed him, and called the police, authorities said.
Perez then went inside to tend to his injury and remained indoors until police arrived, according to police.
While speaking to detectives, Perez told them that he and Romeu got into an argument over $80 which he had given to Romeu to settle a debt with another person, the report stated.
Perez said that Romeu used $40 of that money to buy something at a store and he demanded that Romeu reimburse him, according to investigators.
After the argument, police said Romeu retrieved a black-sheathed machete from his truck where he then attacked the victim with it. striking him in the head.
While in police custody, Romeu was read his Miranda rights and allegedly admitted to something, but his exact statements to detectives were redacted from the publicly released report.
According to jail records, he is facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
As of Tuesday, Romeu was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond has not yet been determined.