One of the 11 Cuban migrants who came ashore at Hollywood Beach over the weekend has been arrested for swinging a machete at a federal officer during the encounter, court records showed.
Lazaro Mora Gutierrez is charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon in the Saturday incident, according to a criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, Gutierrez and 10 other migrants were on a homemade vessel that was close to shore near the Dania Beach Pier Saturday evening. When agents with Customs and Border Protection got to the boat, they found the Cubans armed with knives, machetes and other weapons, the complaint said.
The migrants became agitated and made threatening gestures at the agents with the weapons, and one of them stabbed himself with a knife, the complaint said. One of them threw a machete at an officer, missing but hitting a CBP boat. That migrant was shot with a pepper ball launcher, the complaint said.
During the incident, Gutierrez began wrestling with another migrant while appearing to attempt to stab himself, the complaint said. At one point, he took multiple swings at an officer with a machete, the complaint said.
Once their vessel got near land, the migrants jumped off and ran toward the beach. When Gutierrez got off the boat holding a knife he was shot with bean bag rounds and taken into custody, the complaint said.
Five of the men, including Gutierrez, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.
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One of the migrants, Yoandy Alonoso Figueredo, told NBC 6 the trip lasted eight days and the group went without food and water for four.
