Elderly man says he didn’t threaten anyone after being arrested for allegedly pulling gun on 12-year-old in Hialeah – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) – An elderly man accused of pulling a gun out and threatening a 12-year-old says he didn’t make any threats, a day after getting out of jail.
Elso Rodriguez, 84, was arrested by police at his apartment located near the 100 block of West 26th Street in Hialeah, Oct. 4.
“You were arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm,” Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer told the man in bond court.
After bonding out, he told 7News at his home in Spanish that the allegations against him are false.
“I never pointed at the kid, I never talked with the kid or with the mother either,” said Rodriguez.
He claims a child living in the building next door had been a menace, knocking on his windows and doors and then running away.
“The kid was running on the street and knocked on my door,” he said. “I have a lot of days that I can’t sleep, one night completely.”
Rodriguez said he went to complain to the manager next door on Saturday, then went home.
According to Ena Herrera, the mother of the child, there’s more to the story. She said the elderly man is wrongly accusing her son of causing problems.
“He took out a gun and said ‘This kid, I will kill you because I am tired of this,’” said Herrera in Spanish.
Herrera’s son told 7News that Rodriguez told him he wouldn’t kill him yet.
“The man said, ‘I won’t kill you now because your family is here,’” the 12-year-old said in Spanish.
Despite the allegations, Rodriguez said he insisted he didn’t even have a gun on him, only his cellphone.
“No, no, I only had the cellphone in my pocket,” said Rodriguez. “This is the gun that I had, a cellphone.”
The judge ordered Rodriguez to stay away from the child and his family due to him living too close to the alleged victim.
“I understand you’re 84 years old, but you’re gonna have to find somewhere else to live because these are very serious allegations that you threatened to kill a 12-year-old child with a firearm,” said Glazer.
Rodriguez is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.
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