A man is facing attempted murder and other charges after he was caught on camera stabbing a clerk at a Miami gas station over a can of beer, authorities said.
Billy Joe Martin, 39, was arrested Monday on several charges including attempted murder, armed robbery and battery on a law enforcement officer, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
According to an arrest report, Martin went into the gas station located in the 500 block of Northwest 79th Street around 1 p.m. Monday and took a drink out of a fridge and put it inside his pocket.
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The clerk, who was not identified, confronted Martin over the item, asking him "what did you put in your pocket?" the report said.
Martin then became aggressive and entered the glass partitioned area where the clerk was located and started punching and then stabbing the clerk with a knife in the clerk's back and face, the report said.
Surveillance video from inside the store showed the brutal knife attack and the clerk trying to fight off the suspect, who grabbed a pack of cigarettes.
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The clerk was able to lock the door to keep Martin in the store until officers arrived, the report said.
Martin was tased by officers and later taken into custody. The knife used in the attack was found in Martin's pocket, the report said.
The clerk suffered multiple stab wounds to his torso and face and was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition and expected to survive.
After he was taken into custody and placed in the back of a police car, Martin started hitting his head against the plexiglass partition, the report said. He later spat at an officer and began yelling racial and ethnic slurs at him.
Martin, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, according to the police report, was being held on no bond.
