Police Ask Public to Help Find Man Who May Have Information About Brutal Hammer Attack

Authorities asked for the public's help Tuesday in identifying a man who was caught by surveillance cameras at a Little Havana grocery store where a man was brutally attacked with a hammer.

Miami Police say the man is not a suspect in the attack at Alex's Mini Market on Dec. 18. They said they want to speak with him because he was at the market just seconds before the attack, and he may have information about the case.

Police have already arrested Rodobaldo Sanchez, 50, in connection to the case. He faces charges including first-degree attempted murder, burglary with assault or battery, armed robbery and false imprisonment with a deadly weapon.

Police say Sanchez entered Alex's Mini Market at 501 Northwest 12th Avenue in Little Havana on Sunday afternoon and brought two gallons of milk to the counter.

When the clerk, Yue Kui Cen, began to ring the items up, Sanchez pulled a bottle from his pocket and started spraying Cen with an unknown chemical, police said.

As Cen rubbed his eyes, the suspect walked around the counter and hit him in the back of the head with a hammer several times, authorities said. He grabbed two cartons of cigarettes and fled the scene on his bike, police said.

The entire attack was caught on the store's surveillance system.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 305-603-6500 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.