MIAMI (WSVN) - A suspect accused of pulling a knife at a gym faced a judge.
The suspect in question is 57-year-old Lenin Sanchez, who appeared in court Tuesday morning.
The incident happened at an LA Fitness at 8555 SW 124th Ave., just before 8 p.m., Monday.
According to the victim, he said Sanchez was being disrespectful to his girlfriend and recording her, which then led to an argument.
“It got a little bit weird when he pulled out his cellphone and started positioning himself behind her,” said Khuslen Khan.
On the cell phone video, Khan told Sanchez, “Yo, do you mind not doing that for me?”
Sanchez replied, “Oh, but your girlfriend’s fine, bro. What’s wrong with that? I can look at her if I want to.”
“I’m saying, respectfully, you’re making us feel uncomfortable,” said Khan.
Sanchez then went into the locker room and returned with a knife.
“He had a long black handle, a kitchen knife it looked like,” said Khan. “He keeps coming towards me, so I got up, and I’m like, man, this guy wants to stab me.”
The confrontation was caught on video, where Sanchez could be seen holding out the knife and threatening the couple, including threatening the man’s life.
“Look what happened. He had knife. He could have stabbed me,” said Khan. “I’m not there for that. I’m just trying to work out like everybody else and relieve stress like everybody else and just be in my own world.”
Khan ran and said he was chased by Sanchez with the knife, which led law enforcement to be called.
An off-duty officer happened to be in the area and could be seen on video bringing down Sanchez in the parking lot.
Miami-Dade Police confirmed that it was Sanchez in the video at the gym.
In a later clip, Sanchez was seen being detained by officers in plain clothes.
“Who saw him pull a knife on me?” said the victim in the video.
The judge, during Sanchez’s court appearance, gave him either house arrest or a $5,000 bond.
“A standard bond. I did see some priors of New York,” said a prosecutor. “Including a prior robbery conviction where he went to state prison.”
Sanchez told the judge he had been living in South Florida for the past few months after moving from New York.
He has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Sanchez will be released from jail and placed on house arrest.
He is also no longer allowed back at the LA Fitness gym and must stay away from the victim.
Khan said he doesn’t regret confronting Sanchez because he said he will not accept people being disrespectful in the gym.
He also said there are signs posted inside the gym that state no video recording is allowed.
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