Our Streets
Vagrant Sends Downtown Resident to the Hospital
The victim is facing serious medical issues. By Downtown News staff.
On June 15, a vagrant, alias El Chino, viciously attacked a Downtown Miami resident outside the 7-ELEVEN store located on Flagler Street and Miami Ave. El Chino just walked out of the store and unprovoked dealt the victim a right hook to the jaw. Falling on the sidewalk, the victim fractured his skull. He also suffered a concussion and a fractured jaw. He is hospitalized in serious condition.
The incident is reminiscent of a tragedy three years ago, at the other end of Flagler Street, near NE 3rd Avenue. A homeless man, suffering from a mental disorder, attacked a downtown resident who also hit the back of his head on the sidewalk and died from the injuries.
El Chino is well known in the Downtown area and feared by residents, businesses, and other homeless people. It took a near-tragedy to get this time bomb off the streets. The Miami Police arrested him the following day. He confessed to having struck the Downtown resident.
Public records show he was charged with battery/felony. He is held on a $15,000 bond. If convicted, according to legal sources, he faces 5 years behind bars. If the victim doesn’t press charges, doesn’t follow up, chances are he can be back roaming the downtown streets in weeks or months. Chances are, another downtown resident will be victimized.
Is this criminal representative of the recent increase in the Downtown homeless presence?
A restaurant owner observed: “Those who make a living from the homeless will say NO! But if you ask residents who walk their dogs or need to venture along West Flagler Street, NE 2nd Avenue — not to mention SW 1st St. — or business owners who have to put up with their constant disruptions, the unequivocal answer is YES!”
A clarification
We are not talking here about the real homeless population, men, women, and children who face hardships by no fault of their own — in many cases victims themselves of failing social policies like extreme economic disparity, housing scarcity… There are construction workers who sleep in the park because they can’t afford to rent a place, for example. We are referring to the increasing number of vagrants who hide behind homelessness to perpetrate all kinds of petty crimes and felonies.
The Victim
Many neighbors know the victim of El Chino’s vicious attack, they have seen him walking his dog. Many know him by name. Downtown News will honor his request for anonymity, and echo the neighborhood in wishing him a prompt and full recovery.
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