MIAMI (WSVN) - A young man on a bicycle became a good Samaritan after, police said, he rode to the rescue of a construction employee who came under attack by a hammer-wielding robber.
Cellphone video captured the victim in the immediate aftermath of the incident, Wednesday afternoon.
“Oh, my God, he was hitting the girl,” a woman is heard saying in the video.
According to City of Miami Police, the incident took place at a construction site along Southwest Seventh Street, near 10th Avenue, Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators and witnesses said the subject targeted the employee because she was in charge of paying employees and had a considerable amount of cash on her.
But what neither of them realized is that 23-year-old Silas Ditocco had witnessed the attack while biking home from his job at the Apple Store at Brickell City Centre.
“She was being attacked by a man who had a big hammer that was concealed inside of a plastic bag,” he said.
Ditocco said the assailant roughed up the woman.
“He had her by her shirt, hair and was just beating her,” he said.
Ditocco said he felt he had no choice but to intervene.
“I had to,” he said.
This @Apple employee saved a woman who was being attacked and robbed with a hammer in #Miami. He fought off the robber and blocked the hammer with his bike as it was being swung. Woman hospitalized. Arrest made. @wsvn #7News #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/RGNrDElmtN
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) November 27, 2019
Ditocco said he rode toward the attacker and attempted to shield the victim.
“I had gotten between him and the girl, used my bike and pushed it against him,” he said. “Essentially, I locked the hammer inside the spokes of my bike or somewhere in my bike … and I locked it, and I pulled the hammer out of his arm.”
Investigators said the attacker was eventually subdued, once construction workers got wind of what was happening.
Police responded to the scene and took the subject into custody. He was later identified as 42-year-old Aramis Gonzalez Azcuy.
Ditocco later learned why the victim was targeted.
“The guy knew that she had money, payroll,” he said.
The woman was transported to an area hospital for treatment. She is expected to be OK.
Ditocco said the outcome could have been much worse if he had failed to take action.
When asked whether she might have died if he had not stepped in, the good Samaritan replied, “Yes.”
Gonzalez Azcuy appeared in bond court Thursday afternoon. He was charged with armed robbery with a weapon.
As for Ditocco, he said he is looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with his family.
Gonzalez Azcuy is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional center on $10,000 bond.
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