Street fight pits man with a bottle vs. two cops and a Taser, Miami Beach police say
Two Miami Beach police officers encountered a man on Collins Avenue Thursday morning who attacked one officer, absorbed a Taser — then attacked another officer.
That’s according to Miami Beach police, which said the 7:40 a.m. Halloween encounter with an unyielding suspect resulted in one arrest, one suspect taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening, and two officers treated and cleared on the scene.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Millan said.
Erik Maliksi was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, cocaine possession, resisting an officer with violence and criminal mischief with damage at or above $1,000.
According to the arrest report, Maliksi walked up to a car leaving the Blue Diamond, 4779 Collilns Ave., and kicked the bumper hard enough to make it come off. The driver thought Maliksi looked drunk, so he flagged down a Miami Beach police officer rolling by on Collins.
Officer No. 1 approached Maliksi, the report said, and Maliksi approached with a glass bottle in hand. After Maliksi wouldn’t put the bottle down, the report said, Officer No. 1 tried to grab Maliksi. The 5-foot-7, 215-pound Maliksi resisted, then added the violence, breaking the bottle over Officer No. 1’s head.
Officer No. 1 dropped, then reached for his Taser. He Tased Maliksi once. Maliksi kept throwing punches, then turned and ran. A second Tasering attempt also failed.
The report’s account says Maliksi ran up Collins Avenue with Officer No. 1 in pursuit, ready for another round. The two tussled with Officer No. 1 putting Maliksi with his police radio in the face. Officer No. 2 got to the fight in time to get punched in the face before the two officers were able to wrestle Maliksi into custody.
“(Maliksi) was...taken to the ground where he fell onto a concrete landscape curb, possibly causing a laceration to his forehead,” the report says.
Officer No. 1 got a head contusion, swollen nose and a small cut on his hand. Officer No. 2 got a swollen lip.
The report says Maliksi wore a fanny pack that had a crack pipe with cocaine residue.
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 10:32 AM.
