Homeless man accused of spitting on, chasing business owner with pipe in Miami Beach

A homeless man is in custody after allegedly spitting on a business owner and chasing him with a metal pipe Officials arrested the suspect Monday night after receiving a call from Ocean Drive where the -year-old store owner explained he inquired the man to leave According to the arrest summary the man identified as Juan Hernandez started yelling loudly and cursing profanities at the victim After that the man allegedly went to Lummus Park where he grabbed a thin aluminum stick and started walking back towards him The victim described officers he looked back and felt the defendant spit in his facial area Hernandez appeared in bond court Tuesday to face a judge He spit on him and spat on his facial area that s a battery Judge Mindy S Glazer noted The owner of Ocean Drive Gallery appeared in court to tell his side of the story And I was running to find specific guard shelter the gallery s owner stated over Zoom in court Following the event the store owner announced he took off running down the sidewalk After calling police he went looking for surveillance video Video from a neighboring hotel shows the store owner explaining to an employee what had just happened to him outside Hernandez was charged with assault and battery of an elderly person According to police Hernandez has had multiple run-ins with the law before He has a felony past is a registered sex offender and is on sexual predator probation Stay away from the victim stay away from his art gallery you can t go there sir Glazer stated Hernandez The store owner advised News it is getting tough to run a business in Miami Beach He commented that in a -minute time span on Monday two people shoplifted inside his store and then hours later he faced Hernandez He added the Hernandez development is just one example of erratic behavior that is occurring on Miami Beach Hernandez remains in jail with his bond set at