MIAMI – A man and his father are both facing charges in connection with a stabbing that occurred in downtown Miami Thursday evening, according to police. An arrest report states it all started after one of the men confronted the victim for urinating in public.
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Miami police said they arrested Eliot Ray Rudes, 41, of Coral Gables, on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His 76-year-old father, James Rudes, faces an attempted evidence tampering charge.
Police said the stabbing happened at around 8:40 p.m. at Northeast Second Avenue and Second Street. The elder Rudes lives at the Loft Downtown II condominium building at that same intersection.
Authorities accuse Eliot Rudes of stabbing a man and James Rudes of hiding the knife used in the crime.
According to an arrest report, a Miami police officer encountered the pair and asked James Rudes if he had a knife in his bag. Police said he said “no” and “pulled his bag away from the officer.”
The report states he warned the elder Rudes that if he searched the bag and found the knife he would go to jail on an evidence tampering charge. At that point, police said the younger Rudes tried reaching inside of the bag, leading officers to handcuff him.
Authorities said they would soon find the “small knife” in James Rudes’ back pocket.
Police said the elder Rudes would tell investigators that while he and his son were out walking, he saw the victim urinating in public and told the man he shouldn’t do that, claiming the victim then became aggressive.
The rest of his statement was redacted from a publicly-released arrest report. Police said Eliot Rudes corroborated his father’s statement and said there was video footage of the incident.
The pair’s statements to police were redacted from the publicly-released report.
Authorities said the victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he was alert and stable.
Both Eliot and James Rudes were behind bars in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of late Friday morning.
Jail records list the former’s bond as “to be set,” while the latter was held on a $2,500 bond.