A couple says women they don’t know attacked them, unprovoked, and sprayed them with pepper spray while they were walking Sunday night in Miami.
Felyz Rodriguez and Davin Lopez say they just want to know why.
“I want to know why, I want to know what we did,” Lopez said.
“It was all unprovoked; we’re just walking,” Rodriguez said.
The couple was walking to work Sunday night in northwest Miami-Dade when they heard women yelling at them from a car.
“They were like, guys, get out of the road, idiots,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he made a hand gesture towards the car, and the driver turned around. The two of them attacked him and his girlfriend, who is a transgender woman.
“Next thing you know, one gets out and starts pepper spraying me,” Lopez said.
Then two of the women got physical, the couple said. Someone nearby recorded the violent interaction.
“The driver gets out and starts yanking me by the hair, you see in the video, she yanks me, I’m trying my best to not put my hands on anybody because instead of trying to make it worse I’m trying to de-escalate it,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the driver reversed, and she fell to the ground.
Miami-Dade deputies responded, but the people in the car already left. Investigators said the couple had some bruises, cuts and swelling and were burning from the pepper spray.
“It’s just sad, honestly, just thinking about it, it confuses me. I’m confused, I’m distraught, I’m just traumatized at this point honestly,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and Lopez said they don’t understand why the women got violent with them.
“Is it a hate crime, is it something personal, or is it simply you have nothing to do?” Rodriguez said.
A terrifying ordeal for this couple, who say they just want the women responsible held accountable.
“This was my life and my partner’s life on the line, so whatever consequences come to them, they have to face it on their own,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and Lopez said they want to press charges.
The MDSO General Investigations Unit (GIU) will assume the investigation.