MIAMI – A Miami mechanic is facing a first-degree felony after police said he slapped a cellphone out of the hand of a senior wanting her truck fixed, leading to a black eye.
According to an arrest report from the Miami Police Department, the incident happened in late December in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood. Officers took the mechanic, Ramon Cantoral, into custody on Wednesday.
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Police said the victim — whose age wasn’t specified in the report — left her Ford pickup with Cantoral, 55, in August but he was “unable to fix” it even though she had already given him $1,200.
Authorities said on Dec. 27, the woman went to 1400 NW 35th St., where Cantoral does his work, and asked a resident where he was. A man who identified himself as Cantoral’s brother said Cantoral was away and would “contact her shortly.”
The report states that an enraged Cantoral showed up to 1396 NW 36th St. soon after to meet with the victim.
“My brother told me that you had the police in front of his house and now I’m not going to fix your vehicle!” police said he told her.
The report states that Cantoral saw the woman holding her cellphone and “thinking she was either recording him or calling the police,” slapped it out of her hand, “which struck the victim in the face and damaged the phone.”
He then “took off running,” police said. The woman went to a nearby business seeking help.
“Later that night, the victim felt pain in her left eye and observed that her left eye was swollen and bruised,” the report states.
Authorities said she then went to Miami police to report the incident and have her injuries documented.
Felony Apprehension Team officers located Cantoral at the Northwest 35th Street address and arrested him Wednesday on charges of aggravated battery on a person 65 or older and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
As of Thursday, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,650 bond, jail records show.