MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - An elderly woman said she and her husband were minding their business when another woman attacked her in a fit of rage.
Jeanne and Richard Korman were walking through Miami Beach when another woman approached them, shouting harsh words at them.
“She said: ‘You [expletive] whore,'” said Richard.
The couple told 7News the woman then struck Jeanne across the face.
“She hit me right here,” said Jeanne.
The 80-year-old woman was left with a busted lip as a result.
The couple said they have no idea what sparked the sudden burst of rage.
“Maybe I smiled at her, and she didn’t like it,” said Jeanne.
The suspect was later identified as 25-year-old Thalia Rodriguez.
According to police, it began after they received reports of a suspicious individual in the area of the 400 block on Euclid.
“She threw all of her belongings all over the place. We located two large knives, as well as what seemed to be evidence of marijuana,” an officer told the judge during Rodriguez’s bond court appearance on Tuesday.
About 30 minutes after that encounter, Rodriguez allegedly encountered the elderly couple around 1000 Fifth Street.
Jeanne told 7News that Rodriguez was behaving erratically the moment they spotted her.
“She’s screaming and yelling and waving her arms,” said Jeanne.
That was when Rodriguez suddenly decided to smack her across the face.
“She just clobbered me,” said Jeanne.
Her husband quickly jumped into action, pulling the suspected attacker down to the ground.
“There was no way she was getting off that sidewalk,” said Richard.
The officer who responded to the initial call spotted the scuffle and placed Rodriguez under arrest.
During her bond court hearing on Tuesday, the judge ordered Rodriguez to stay away from the elderly couple.
“I think she’s a danger to the community,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer. “Do you understand the order, ma’am?”
“Yes, I promise I’ll stay away,” Rodriguez told the judge.
Rodriguez was charged with two counts of battery on a person 65 years or older.
The Kormans told 7News that, despite the circumstances, it was fortunate it wasn’t someone else who was attacked because they could’ve been much more seriously hurt.
“We’re relatively healthy 80, 79-year-old people, but if it had been someone frail, it could’ve been much worse ’cause she hit me hard enough to just nearly knock me over,” said Jeanne.
Rodriguez was listed as being homeless in the arrest report, but her public defender stated that their client is not homeless and has family in the area.
Her bond was set at $20,000. If she posts bond, she will be placed under house arrest between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
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