PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A man visiting South Florida to undergo medical treatment found himself in the hospital for a different reason after, he said, he was stabbed in the face at a sandwich shop.
Bahamas resident Harold Williams was left with an eye swollen shut and a major gash on his face after what he described as an unprovoked attack.
“I just don’t understand why they attacked me,” he said.
Police have arrested a man in connection to the incident.
Williams said he’s grateful to be alive.
“Luckily, the knife didn’t pierce straight through,” he said.
Williams said he was out running errands Saturday afternoon when he had to use the bathroom.
When he stopped at Pines Market along Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Williams said, a man behind the counter told him he could use their restroom.
The victim said that’s when the assailant struck.
“As I approached him, I felt this knock on the side of my face. I thought he punched me,” he said. “It wasn’t until I looked down, and I saw him holding a kitchen knife, 8 or 10 inches long, and then the blood started gushing everywhere, and I realized I was stabbed.”
Williams said the man holding the knife didn’t say a word.
“I tried to get out of there, because he looked like he was coming back to stab me again,” he said, “and the other guy who was with him, he just opened the door and said to me, ‘Never come back here again.'”
Williams was in South Florida to seek medical treatment, but this is one trip to the hospital he certainly did not expect to make.
“Well, they did a CAT scan, and luckily no vital part was damaged,” he said, “but the doctor did say the muscle in my jaw, it’s quite possible I’m going to need surgery to repair it.”
Pembroke Pines Police took 24-year-old Fawaz Hassan into custody and charged him with aggravated battery.
Williams said he’s just glad he made it out of the sandwich shop.
“I’m thankful to God that I’m still alive because it could have easily been another way,” he said.
Hassan’s attorney said he does not want to comment on the incident until he knows more.
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