DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - An employee at a Davie restaurant opened up about the bar fight that led to the arrest of a murder suspect who had been on the run from the law for more than a year and a half.
In an interview with 7News on Monday, the doorman, who identified himself as Nate, said he had no idea he was dealing with a fugitive from another state last week.
“It really makes you think. You don’t know who you’re brushing shoulders with when you are out here in the real world,” he said.
The staff at Geronimos Grill, located along the 5800 block of South University Drive, might have thought they were dealing with a reality show participant when they first encountered Michael Baltimore.
Baltimore first got a taste of the spotlight in 2019 on the TLC show “90 Day Fiancé.” It featured Baltimore at work at GQ Barbershop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he joked around with his friend and boss, Kendall Cook.
But what the show didn’t air was that the 45-year-old barber is accused by police in the fatal shooting of Cook on May 22, 2021.
Police said Baltimore and the victim, who was also featured on the show, had a falling out, and the suspect left his job.
Authorities said the suspect later returned to GQ and opened fire, killing Cook and injuring a man.
Investigators said Baltimore vanished and ended up on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list.
He was out of sight until Thursday night when, U.S. Marshals said, he emerged during a bar fight at Geronimos Grill.
“Out of the ordinary, we had a fight break out; it spilled outside,” said Nate.
Nate said Baltimore wasn’t even part of the initial argument but got involved anyway.
“Our main focus was just keeping everybody safe,” said Nate. “I turned my head for a split second, and somebody with the butt end of a knife, who ended up being the person of interest, stabbed me with the butt end of the knife in the forehead. I went down.”
Nate said Baltimore also had a gun.
Baltimore took off, but Nate said he and other co-workers were able to give Davie Police officers the information they needed to find him.
Now the reality of who he came face to face with is setting in for Nate.
“I thought to myself, ‘If this person would kill somebody, then they’re not above killing somebody else,” said Nate, “so it scared me because I felt that it could have been myself in that moment.”
Baltimore is being held at the Broward County Jail and faces a long list of charges. He is expected to be extradited back to Pennsylvania soon, though a date has not been provided.
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