You’re sure to see something on Miami Seaside, however on Saturday afternoon, residents and vacationers have been confronted by a strolling horror film.
“You realize, it’s humorous. Any individual simply informed me, they mentioned, ‘It will get a little bit loopy at night time,’ however I didn’t count on to have someone welding an ax coming down the highway,” a witness informed Miami Seaside Police, in keeping with WSVN 7News Miami.
John Harper, from El Lago, Texas — “a really brazen and harmful particular person,” police mentioned — was arrested after he was noticed chasing a girl down a busy avenue with an ax. He grabbed the software out of his truck after the girl informed him to cease shouting a racist expletive.
Investigators mentioned the sufferer, who’s not seen within the footage, informed officers, “She noticed a white male strolling eastbound screaming the [N-word].” When she confronted him and yelled at him to cease, she mentioned he “picked up an ax from the truck mattress and commenced to stroll quick in the direction of her as he was swinging the ax and screaming at her.”
When officers arrived, witnesses defined what had occurred and the place Harper had gone.
“We really have been those that known as,” mentioned a witness. “We noticed him get (the ax) out of the again of the pickup truck up right here.”
“I used to be simply taking footage of the entire thing. I’ve bought footage of the entire thing,” one other witness informed responding officers.
The harrowing scene was replayed for officers and might be overheard from police physique digital camera footage.
“He got here working down the sidewalk,” mentioned a bystander, directing police to the suspect.
“Quite a lot of witnesses and passersby, they have been in worry for his or her lives as effectively,” mentioned Miami Seaside Police Officer Christopher Bess.
One bystander described seeing Harper chasing the girl with the ax over his shoulder.
“When he heard you guys coming, he dropped it after which took off working,” he mentioned.
After looking for a couple of minutes, officers discovered the weapon.
“Dropped the ax over there on the street,” mentioned an officer.
“Over right here! There’s an ax on the ground!” mentioned one other officer.
Luckily, Miami Seaside Police Division’s ATV Unit was close by. Harper was caught and handcuffed inside minutes of the calls to 911.
Officers would quickly uncover Harper had been in bother with the regulation earlier than, earlier this 12 months, following the same incident.
“Hey, you say you’re out on bond for what, an assault?” mentioned an officer.
“Yeah,” mentioned Harper.
In January, Harper attacked and struck a girl with a forearm-strengthening train system in downtown Miami earlier than being arrested. The assault was recorded on cellphone video.
Harper faces a brand new cost of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon on high of his earlier fees of aggravated battery and different offenses. He stays behind bars on the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Heart in West Miami-Dade.
