MIAMI (WSVN) - An 18-year-old was hospitalized, Wednesday, after being stabbed during a brawl near a Wendy’s restaurant in Hialeah.
Hialeah Police were on the scene at a Wendy’s restaurant parking lot, along East 49th Street and Palm Avenue, Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses told officials that there was a large fight involving a group of high schoolers, which lead to the stabbing of the teen. One witness told 7News that they saw a baseball bat at the time of the fight.
“To fight him, like to jump him,” said one witness. “I don’t know if they had problems in school or something, but I don’t know. I saw him get cut.”
“Big fight. That’s what the witnesses are telling us,” said Hialeah Police Sgt. Carl Zogby. “During the fight, an 18-year-old gets stabbed in the back. He’s stable. He was alert, conscious. He’s gonna be OK, but just as a precaution, we airlifted him to JMH.”
Police arrested 17-year-old Yosiris Alfonso Fernandez, Wednesday night, and charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Fernandez is expected to appear before a judge, Thursday.
According to officials, Fernandez fled the scene after stabbing the victim, but they said there is usually a heavy student presence at the Wendy’s after school. “They come here all the time,” Zogby said. “The high school kids come here all the time. We’re right close to Hialeah High, and it’s OK. They come after school, and there’s no problems. Today, I guess, they decided to fight for some reason, and now we know how it ended up.”
According to police, the victim, Eduardo Rivero, does not attend Hialeah High School.
Officials said Rivero suffered injuries that are not life-threatening and is expected to be OK. He was released Wednesday night.
“They stabbed me,” Rivero said. “I didn’t do anything. He just stabbed me because I guess he thought I was gonna hit him. He’s a coward.”
Police arrested a 17-year-old for the stabbing.
Rivero’s mother, Ana Morales, is just glad her son is alive.
“Thank God, we’re taking him home today,” she said. “It was crazy, just to think that he could’ve been dead.”
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