Machete Attack Victim Holds Suspect at Scene Until Police Arrive

Newly released body-worn camera footage shows a man bleeding profusely from his hand while holding another man against a fence, waiting for police to arrive following an alleged machete attack on May 10.

North Miami police say the bleeding man is the victim, who was attacked with a machete following an argument outside an apartment. The victim was visiting a friend when he encountered the suspect, whom he knew from the neighborhood. According to police, the two men engaged in conversation before the suspect “just lost it.”

“It was concealed. I ain’t see it nowhere on you like, ‘Oh my god, this guy’s going to stab me — I’m going to die.’ I dare — hell yeah,” the victim said in an interview after police tracked him down.

The victim said he fought for his life during the attack. “Every time I struggle though, I had to grab his hand ’cause if not, I run the risk of getting hit with a machete,” he explained.

Police say surveillance video contradicted the suspect’s claim that he was defending himself. The suspect was taken to jail complaining of back pain and now faces an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge.

The victim, who showed reporters his stitches, said the experience made him think of his family. “I thought about my kids, my wife, my family. I ain’t — I got to make it home.”

In the video, the victim can be heard telling the man he is holding, “Don’t act like you’re the victim.”

“I can’t begin to fathom what made him react in that type of way,” the victim said of the suspect. “But yeah, he reacted like that. He just lost it.”

The victim said he feels fortunate to be alive.