A mall employee thought his coworker was ‘lazy.’ There was a machete involved, cops say
A disturbing scene played out at Palm Beach Outlets over the weekend.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the West Palm Beach Police Department, a food court worker was arrested after going after a fellow staffer with a machete.
The police report says officers were dispatched to the mall’s security office, where the victim, Josh Figueroa, was bleeding from the arms, hands and the back of his head.
Figueroa identified his attacker as his coworker, Luis Arias, then was taken to a hospital where he got stitches.
Cops and mall workers said they reviewed video surveillance footage of the fight and tracked down Arias, who was rinsing blood off the machete in a sink in the maintenance office.
Arias admitted to bringing the machete to work that day and said that he “just lost his temper.” Arias told cops he thought that the victim was “lazy,” and “always leaves extra work for him,” according to the police report.
When Arias and Figueroa were alone together back in the maintenance office, the two began to get into it.
At one point, Figueroa told police the suspect reached into his locker, grabbed the machete and began hitting him with it multiple times.
Arias claimed he only began swinging when Figueroa grabbed a mop first. Police dispute Arias’ account, saying in a statement that the attack was targeted “against the victim only.”
Figueroa told cops he then ran from the office and into the mall, with Arias in pursuit.
The 22-year-old then said he bolted through the food court, made it to the security office and locked the door behind him.
Palm Beach Outlets issued a statement to the Palm Beach Post confirming there was an argument between two contracted employees, calling it an “isolated incident that occurred in a storage area near the food pavilion.”
Arias was arrested on an aggravated battery charge with a deadly weapon and on Monday remained behind bars at the Palm Beach County Jail on $50,000 bond.
A court date has been set for April 2.
This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 12:01 PM.
