MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A war veteran became the victim of an alarming attack at a bus stop in Miami Beach while on his way to volunteer at a hospital. Now his wife is praying he recovers and calling for change.
The victim’s wife, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, spoke with 7News on Thursday, while her 70-year-old husband remains in the hospital.
“It is very difficult. Yes, indeed,” she said. “He’s in very bad shape.”
The attack, which took place along the 300 block of Lincoln Road, has left the veteran’s wife shaken up.
“I don’t feel safe,” she said.
According to a police report, the victim, a U.S. Navy veteran husband, was waiting for the bus when he was “punched in the face unprovoked.”
Investigators said the assailant also went through the victim’s pockets.
The police report further states the crook then “returned to continue to batter and kick the victim, who was still on the ground. The defendant intentionally struck the victim, causing multiple and serious injuries requiring numerous sutures to the forehead and staples to the back of his head, as well as a broken tooth.”
“This man viciously attacked him like an animal,” said the victim’s wife.
Her husband was actually on the way to the Veteran Affairs Hospital that morning to do volunteer work, as he’s been doing for years, before he encountered his attacker.
“He stomped him, looking in his pockets for money,” said his wife, “and that’s two blocks away from the residence.”
Now the victim is back at the VA Hospital, but as a patient.
The victim’s wife shared her account of the incident at a Miami Beach City Hall meeting.
“My husband was a victim of a crime,” she said. “He’s in intensive care at the military hospital.”
Meanwhile, police were able to locate and apprehend the suspect with the help of a surveillance image and a “wanted” flyer. He was identified as 36-year-old Daniel Ciforelli.
The suspect appeared before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer on Wednesday morning. He was charged with aggravated battery on an elderly person.
Ciforelli, a repeat offender with long rap sheet, has amassed a collection of mugshots for a multitude of crimes, mostly committed in Miami Beach.
“This man, for instance, has been in the criminal system many times, many years, and what happened? It’s a revolving door,” said the victim’s wife.
Now she has a message for Miami Beach’s mayor, police chief and Miami-Dade’s state attorney.
“Please, do something about it, to eliminate the danger within the community,” she said.
Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said she was touched by this woman’s story. The commissioner sent Miami Beach residents an email detailing the woman’s appearance in Wednesday’s meeting.
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