Key West man jailed after police say he fired his gun during a Duval Street fight
A fight at a Key West parking lot ended with a shot fired, one man stabbed in the arm, another hospitalized and a third in jail early Tuesday morning, police said.
Around 1 a.m., the melee broke out at a rear parking lot at 419 Duval Street, with two men — 25-year-old Kyler Lowery and 27-year-old Jake Graziano — fighting with 19-year-old Jesus Guerra Diaz, according to a Key West police report.
During the fight, the reports state Guerra Diaz pulled out a folding knife, wounding Lowery in the arm. Both Lowery and Graziano retreated to a pickup truck, from which Graziano pulled out a Glock 9mm pistol, per the report.
Graziano fired one shot from the gun before police say he, Lowery and two other men left the scene in the pickup.
Security camera footage from the area revealed both Lowery and Graziano hitting Guerra Diaz on the ground, Diaz pulling out a knife and Graziano pointing the gun at him, the report states.
Detective Brian Leahy interviewed Guerra Diaz at Lower Keys Medical Center, where he was being treated for a head injury he said he received from Lowery headbutting him.
He told the detective that he, his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mother were in the parking lot in his significant other’s car when he and the other men began arguing, according to the report. His girlfriend wanted to leave, so they did.
But feeling the other men “had called him out,” he returned to the parking lot to confront them, he told Leahy.
When Guerra Diaz got out of his car and approached Graziano, he told Leahy that Lowery headbutted him twice in the face. During the fight, the three men fell to the ground, he told Leahy, according to the report. He was able to get up and get behind another car, where he pulled his knife out from his waistband “to defend himself,” the report states.
He said that’s when Graziano fired his gun once into the ground. He said he then dropped the knife and believes he heard another shot. Blood from his head dripped on his face, he told Leahy, according to the report. The other men drove off in the pickup, the report states.
He was able to take a video of the truck leaving, which recorded the truck’s license plate, Leahy stated.
Police traced the truck to a house on Big Coppitt Key, where they found Graziano and two of the other men, Leahy stated. Officers took them back to the police station in Key West and interviewed them in separate rooms.
Graziano, after being read his rights, told Leahy that he and his friends were hanging out by his truck in the parking lot when Guerra Diaz confronted them, repeatedly asking them, “Are you good?,” according to the report. He said he had never seen Guerra Diaz before.
Graziano said Lowery and Guerra Diaz began fighting and Guerra Diaz pulled out a knife and stabbed his friend in the arm, according to the report. He said that is when he got his gun and fired a shot into the ground to warn Guerra Diaz away, according to the report. He also denied pointing it at Guerra Diaz, Leahy stated.
When Leahy asked him what he did with the gun, he asked for his lawyer, and Leahy states he ended the interview.
Officers later located Lowery at a house on Rockland Key, according to the report, and brought him to the police station. Lowery told police that the conflict began when someone in a Chevy Malibu parked the vehicle in a way to prevent he and his friends from getting to the pickup truck.
He said Guerra Diaz returned shortly after in a SUV and approached each of the other men, asking them if they “were good,” the report states. Lowery told police he put his hand on Guerra Diaz’s shoulder and asked him to leave, but Guerra Diaz pushed him and they began to fight, the report states.
Lowery told cops he did not realize Graziano was involved until they were both on the ground, but he said he believes his friend was trying to break up the fight, the report states. He said he walked to the front of the pickup and heard a single shot, according to the report.
After picking up his wallet and cellphone from the ground, Lowery told police he yelled he had been stabbed and needed to leave. The men drove off in Graziano’s pickup, the report states.
Lowery told police that Graziano asked him to hide the Glock on the property of his father’s apartment building on Truman Avenue, where police ended up finding the weapon, the report states.
As of Monday night, Graziano remained in county jail with bond pending on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, felony battery and discharging a firearm in public.
It was not immediately clear if charges are pending against any of the other men involved in the fight.
