A Miami-Dade officer fired his weapon at Dadeland Mall late Tuesday at what police say was a fleeing minivan moving toward detectives.
The chaos at the mall, 7535 North Kendall Dr., started as an argument between husband and wife at a restaurant table. The fight escalated when the man, identified by police as 36-year-old Michael Guzman, pulled his wife by her arms to remove her from the table, Miami-Dade police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said.
Another family member then got involved in an attempt to help the woman. Guzman pushed the relative back into a car and then attempted to drive away in a 2015 Toyota Sienna, Zabaleta said.
That’s when the police got involved.
HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE AT DADELAND MALL. SHOTS FIRED. (@zyanatrillz) pic.twitter.com/bt3l4rsfZm
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) February 24, 2016
Miami-Dade officers at the mall on an unrelated surveillance assignment, detectives with the department’s Economic Crimes Bureau, saw what was going on and approached to help.
“They observed the altercation and immediately responded to assist,” Zabaleta said. “While attempting to flee, the subject drove directly towards the detectives ignoring the commands to stop, causing one of the detectives to discharge his firearm.”
No one was hit by the gunfire and the Guzman continued to drive the minivan away from the mall. Officers caught up with him on North Kendall Drive at Southwest 61st Avenue and took him into custody.
Charges are pending against Guzman, who lives in Coconut Grove. He was taken to the hospital after complaining of chest pains. His wife, who police did not identify, jumped out of the moving vehicle and also was taken to the hospital.
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