A man is brutally beaten on a Miami train. He is the fourth person this month, police say.
A 73-year-old Miami man was brutally beaten over the weekend while riding on the Metromover, the fourth person who has been attacked while riding the Miami-Dade transportation system this month.
Eduardo Miguel Fernández was attacked on the Metromover early Sunday morning near the Adrienne Arsht Center Metromover station while on his way to visit his son in downtown Miami, where he also works.
“He has four fractures to his face, a broken skull, bruises all over from someone who hit him. I don’t know how he got out alive,” his son Christian Fernández told Channel 51 of the Telemundo television network.
Manny Borrajo, a relative of the victim, said that “it was a hateful beating because they did not rob him.”
On Monday, Miami-Dade Police Department called the incident “an unprovoked attack to an elderly person.”
Police say the victim, whom they did not identify but the family did, was sitting in the train when someone began beating and kicking him. The City of Miami Fire Department transported Fernández to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he will have to stay for at least two weeks due to the severity of his injuries.
Police said they are looking for a man who is between the ages of 45 and 55 years old, is about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. The man was last seen in a black shirt, khaki pants, brown shoes and a blue mask.
Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said Monday that the “brutal attacks on the Metrorail / Metromover system, while unrelated, are “deeply concerning.”
On Sept. 4, a woman was attacked while sitting in the Metromover near the Fifth Street station by Brickell. She sat next to a man she did not know, and he kicked and hit her about 20 times, police said.
Joshua James King, 25, was arrested in that case and charged with aggravated battery and battery, according to arrest records.
Police say he attacked two other people that day on the Metromover near the Eighth Street station. King, who is out of jail on bond, is due to appear before a judge on Friday and has been assigned a public defender, according to court records.
“While I am relieved that the first case resulted in arrest, we have yet to identify the attacker in the second case,” Ramirez said in Monday’s news release. “I’ve also spoken to Chief Jorge Colina of the Miami Police Department and we are both committed to working together, not only to catch the subject of this callous crime, but to help keep our transit customers safe.”
Colina, according to the news release, “will be deploying additional resources throughout the Metrorail/Metromover system within our jurisdiction, both uniformed and in an undercover capacity in order to increase the safety of our residents and the system’s riders.”
The Miami-Dade transportation department said in a statement that it is working with Miami-Dade Police and its security contractor to strengthen safety measures.
“We are appalled by the recent incidents and our heart goes out to the victims,” the department said. “The safety of our passengers and staff is always our top priority, and we take this type of incident very seriously.”
In a press conference Monday, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the city would commit resources so that people would be able to ”safely ride” public transportation.
“While those attacks happened on Miami-Dade property, where they have primary jurisdiction, we are extremely concerned about it and want to help the county prevent these acts in the future,” he said.
Anyone with information regarding Sunday’s attack is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
