MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida woman is set to sue after falling victim to a violent and brutal attack on the MetroMover.
Andrea Puerta was punched, kicked and thrown around on the MetroMover on Sept. 4, and no one was around to help her. She and her attorneys are planning to file a lawsuit to prevent another attack from happening again.
“His mission was to kill me, and if the people don’t learn about this, it’s gonna be another person that’s just going to do it,” said 25-year-old Puerta.
Puerta wants to prevent another nightmare like the one she went through. After hopping on at the Brickell station on the evening of Sept. 4, she was beaten mercilessly on the Miami-Dade MetroMover by a stranger throwing punches and apologizing but refusing to stop.
“When he told me sorry, I think that was the moment he said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to kill you,'” she said.
The beating left Puerta with bumps, bruises and broken ribs.
“What happened here? Where was the security?” said attorney Cube Obront.
On Wednesday, Puerta’s attorneys announced plans to take legal action against the county and the contracted security company, pointing out there have been other attacks recently, including a violent encounter that sent a 73-year-old man to the hospital.
“I don’t know what’s going on out there, but we’re going to get to the bottom of ‘Where was the security?’ and ‘How can we make this beautiful city beautiful again and safe again?'” said Obront. “Hopefully, this case will be the catalyst for them to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future.”
The county has stepped up security on the MetroMover, and there have been arrests in both cases.
The perpetrator in Puerta’s case, Joshua James King, was arrested and charged with battery. He has since bonded out of jail, but Puerta’s attorneys pointed what was allegedly found on King.
“Fourteen live-rounds of a 9 mm ammunition in a fully loaded clip in his pocket,” said Obront.
Allied Universal, who provides MetroMover security, released a statement saying in part:
“We are disheartened about the criminal assault against a female victim that occurred on Sept. 4 on the Metrorail/MetroMover Miami-Dade Transit system. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time…”
King has been placed on house arrest.
Puerta and her attorneys say their goal is to make sure the MetroMover is safe with lots of security, If not, they fear the next victim will not survive.
“If I don’t do nothing, it’s going to be another person that’s not going to have the same luck,” said Puerta.
Miami-Dade County has not commented on the pending legal action.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.