Three Charged In NW Dade Paintball Attacks
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Three people have been charged in a series of paintball attacks Tuesday night in MIami Gardens and Opa-Locka. A new arrest report shows that one of those suspects was also wanted for an armed robbery and the attempted murder of a teenager on October 21st in Miami Gardens.
The arrest report says the suspects fired at multiple persons and properties on Tuesday and in one incident an off-duty Miami Gardens police was shot in the leg with a paintball gun.
This led to a chase through Miami Gardens in which the officer followed them in his car.
The pursuit ended in Opa-locka where the front of a Family Dollar store, at 14400 Northwest 27th Avenue, was also peppered with paintballs. Jerry Watson was standing in front of the store when two men jumped out of the car.
Watson told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "I was at the Dollar store getting something out of my pocket and the next thing I knew I saw 2 dudes getting out of the car. I didn't know them. I figured they were doing something because of Halloween."
"I feel that they just weren't honest in doing things they shouldn't be doing. They were probably under the influence of drugs," he said. "I thought that it was a BB gun and then I am like trying to find a stick or something. But then the other one started shooting me too and they just started laughing. It got severe so I went inside the Family Dollar store."
Watson said he was struck at least seven times by the paintball pellets.
"It just kept stinging, like a rash," he said.
Miami-Dade police said three people were taken into custody. They have been identified as 19-year-old Tyrese Ferguson, 20-year-old Antwon Adams, and a juvenile male. They've been charged with battery.
After his arrest, police realized Adams was wanted for a shooting Sunday, October 21st, involving a 16-year-old victim. He was additionally charged with attempted murder, armed robbery, and battery.
A judge ordered that Adams be held without bond and that he stay away from the off-duty officer.
Watson said he hopes they've learned a lesson.
"If they gonna mess around and do that then somebody is really gonna have a gun and shoot back at them," he said.
"I think it was cruel and wrong for them to do that. They should respect other people's feelings and because they didn't respect his feelings I think that they should be punished and send a message to other people, think before you do something wrong," said Watson's mother Loretta Goodman.
