A man has been arrested in connection with two separate stabbing incidents at the government center in Miami that left two people hospitalized, authorities said.
Joel Sanchez-Abreu, 37, was arrested Monday on two counts of aggravated battery, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
The first incident happened around 12:30 p.m. on July 11 in a courtyard at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center at 111 Northwest 1st Street.
According to an arrest report, surveillance video showed the victim sitting at a bench in the courtyard near the fruit museum when the suspect approached him several times.
The victim said the man asked him for money to buy drugs but he refused his requests and the suspect became upset, the report said.
A short time later, the victim said the suspect rode past on a bicycle and stabbed him once in the center of his back before fleeing, the report said.
The victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for treatment.
The second incident happened the afternoon of Sept. 4, as a group was near the water fountain benches at the government center when the suspect approached and sat with them, an arrest report said.
The suspect got into a physical altercation with the victim and stabbed the victim in the left shoulder blade before he fled on a bicycle, the report said.
The victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment and a portion of the blade, believed to be from a small box cutter, was found in his shoulder blade.
On Monday, Sanchez-Abreu was found riding a bicycle near 1st Street and Northwest 3rd Avenue and was taken into custody.
He gave a full confession to both incidents and was booked into jail, the reports said.