PLANTATION, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man is taking measures to protect himself after, he said, three men approached him in his driveway and knocked him out before they robbed him and his adult daughter, Wednesday night.
Seventy-six-year-old Mario Inchausti said the muggers attacked him as he walked his daughter to her car outside his Plantation home on Holly Lane, near Almost Terrace, at around 8 p.m. They beat Inchausti so badly that he barely remembers the assault, but he does remember them pulling up in a car.
“I only saw one by shadow,” he said, “They hit me before I could turn around.”
Inchausti’s face and body still bear bruises from the attack. On his face, he said, is the imprint from one of the attacker’s shoes. “I remember trying to get up and that was — somebody turned the lights off — and I assume that’s when they kicked me in the head,” he said.
Blood stains are still on his driveway.
The thieves took off in a black SUV with his cellphone and his daughter’s bag. “Her cellphone, her ID, money, everything,” Inchausti said. “The threatened to beat on her, but I guess she was so upset; she thought I was dead.”
Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones in Plantation to encounter violent crime.
Martial arts instructor Robert Mason is encouraging members of this community to fight back. “In the last few months, there have been more of these attacks,” he said.
Mason said he uses Next Door, an online community forum. When he saw people talking about an increase in crime on the forum, he decided to offer a free self-defense course at the American International Karate Institute, Saturday at noon.
The goal is to help people like Inchausti feel more secure in their surroundings, Mason said. “This attack and that attack, and ‘I feel vulnerable’ and ‘What can we do?'” Mason said, “So I responded to my neighbors, essentially.”
Meanwhile, Inchausti is already taking steps to feel safer. “Even to go and get the mail, I come out with my gun,” he said.
While Plantation Police track down the attackers, Inchausti has one message for them. “I mean, telling them to turn themselves in is ridiculous because they’re criminals,” he said, “But I hope they get what they deserve.”
If you have any information on this robbery, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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