Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Man escorting girlfriend to party stabbed
A man escorting his blindfolded girlfriend to her surprise birthday party ended up with staples in his head and stitches under his eye when her ex-boyfriend showed up and stabbed him with two screwdrivers, Davie police said.
It could have been worse. The injured man, Christopher Lowery, told police that his assailant had a gun.
The violent encounter about 9:30 p.m. July 20 in the parking lot of a Davie shopping center at 5810 S. University Drive is seen on security surveillance video released by police Friday.
According to police, Lowery was walking his new girlfriend into her surprise party at the art studio called Painting with a Twist when he heard tires screeching and saw a white Chevrolet pickup bearing down. At the time, he and his girlfriend were accompanied by other friends and family members.
“He immediately realized the driver was an individual known as Richard Madruga,” a Davie police arrest report said.
As Madruga, 34, was yelling obscenities from the truck’s window, Lowery told police he rushed to the driver’s door to prevent it from opening and that’s when he noticed “Madruga was holding a black firearm in his right hand,” and was trying to get out.
When the gun fell out of Madruga’s hand during the scuffle at the door of the pickup, he grabbed a screwdriver and was able get out of the vehicle, police said.
In the surveillance video, both men are seen trading punches and tumbling to the ground while the startled witnesses watch, some apparently using their cellphones to call 911.
During the fight, police say, Madruga dropped one screwdriver but was able to get his hands on another as he continued to stab Lowery.
Eventually, bystanders were able to break up the fight.
Madruga, who lives in Hollywood, drove away but was eventually found in Miramar and arrested.
Lowery was treated at Westside Regional Medical Center where he received “9 staples on the top of his head and 2 stitches under his left eye, the arrest report said.
Madruga was booked into Broward’s jail on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was later released on bond of $15,000, according to court records.