Mario Perez of Pembroke Pines has been charged with multiple criminal violations after an alleged altercation last month between himself and two teenagers who were driving an inordinately loud vehicle. After the teens disrupted the neighborhood with a convertible that either had a boisterous engine or lacked a muffler, Perez allegedly confronted them. The teens claim that he brandished a firearm, verbally abused them, and struck one of them with a fist after holding them at gunpoint.
Charges prosecutors have filed against him are:
- Armed burglary of a car – two counts
- Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon – one count
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – one count
Perez has been in custody since his mid-April arrest. He has retained Attorney John Hager of Hager & Schwartz, P.A. in Miami to act as his defense counsel. One of Hager’s first efforts as his legal representative was to have Perez released on bond. Judge Usan denied the request without releasing a public statement as to why.
Perez does not have a history as a violent individual and is not known to be “hot-headed” among friends and family members. Hager is focusing part of his defense case on establishing that the descriptions of Perez and the encounter do not match his character, which could indicate that the teens exaggerated what really happened the night of his arrest.
More useful defense information might be found through testimony of Miami Police Sergeant James Faris, who was seated within Perez’s vehicle during the interaction with the teenagers. He has claimed that he did not have the ability to view the alleged altercation. The fact that a law enforcement officer did not feel the need to intervene and stop the interaction suggests that it was never as dangerous or heated as the alleged victims have claimed.
Want to know more about this ongoing case? You can review a full article published by the Sun Sentinel (click here), or keep visiting our criminal defense blog for major updates to the story. Contact our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys at Hager & Schwartz, P.A. today if you need a trial-tested and reliable legal advocate for a defense case of your own.