Police have made an arrest in the most recent attack on the Miami MetroMover that sent an elderly man to the hospital, officials said.
Miami-Dade Police said 62-year-old Robert Lee Ribbs was arrested in the Sunday morning attack.
Ribbs faces charges including aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, battery on a person 65 or older and strongarm robbery, police said Tuesday.
The incident happened around 6 a.m. Sunday at the Adrienne Arsht Center MetroMover.
The victim, 73-year-old Eduardo Fernandez, was heading to work and on a car going from the Government Center Station to the Arsht Station when he was badly beaten by another man in an unprovoked attack, police said.
According to an arrest report, Ribbs waited until a security guard got off the train then started kicking and punching Fernandez. He searched Fernandez's pockets and stole $30, the report.
Fernandez was at Jackson Memorial Hospital Monday with a swollen eye, cuts to his head and other injuries.
"It can't happen again," son Christian Fernandez said.
A separate and unrelated attack on the MetroMover happened back on Sept. 4 and was caught on surveillance video.
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The footage showed Andrea Puerta viciously assaulted, with a man repeatedly punching her and at one point throwing her against the side of the car.
Police arrested a suspect in that case, who they identified as 25-year-old Joshua King. He faces battery and aggravated battery charges.
Authorities said they were adding more officers to the MetroMover system. Transportation officials said there are 1,200 cameras on the transit system with employees monitoring them on a rotating basis.
“We are working to get artificial intelligence software so that when something like this is occurring it is detected instantly," said Alice Bravo, the Director of Transportation and Public Works.
