Convicted felon denied bond in Thanksgiving Day stabbing incident in Summerfield
A convicted felon with a history of not showing up for court appearances and who is accused of stabbing a man multiple times for his gold chain, has been arrested by law enforcement officials.
Wanted for attempted murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated fleeing with injury or damage and resisting without violence, Rigoberto Torres-Garcia was booked into the Marion County Jail late Friday night.
Torres-Garcia faced a judge on Saturday in his first appearance at the jail and was denied bond. His next court date is in January, according to jail records.
Shooting: Ocala man accused of attempted murder
Bond: Bail set at $75K for man facing retrial for attempted murder
Juvenile arrest: Teen arrested in Ocala shooting
Marion County Sheriff's Office
Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies were searching for the 44-year-old man, who's believed to be homeless, for the Thanksgiving Day stabbing of a man in Summerfield. Deputies were told that Torres-Garcia left in an older model Chrysler.
A deputy spotted the car not long after 911 was called and pursued it. Other deputies joined in the chase. Deputies said the vehicle was stopped, but Torres-Garcia managed to escape.
The victim was taken to a hospital and deputies were told that the man had stab wounds to his side — that damaged his liver and broke a rib — and his right shoulder.
Detectives Jordyn Cobb and Joseph Miller interviewed the victim on separate occasions about the stabbing.
The victim said he and Torres-Garcia were talking outside when Torres-Garcia asked him about his gold chain. The victim said he took his chain from around his neck and Torres-Garcia snatched the piece of jewelry from his hands and hit him in the side. Torres-Garcia then hit the victim in the shoulder, according to the arrest report.
The injured man said he did not know he was stabbed until he saw blood and a hole on the side of his body. Deputies said the victim was stabbed with a pocket knife.
The man said he went into the home and a woman called 911.
Criminal record
Witnesses interviewed by deputies identified Torres-Garcia as the person who stabbed the victim and drove away.
Deputies were told that the chain is worth anywhere from $4,000 to $7,000. Officials were also told that Torres-Garcia may've stabbed the victim over a misunderstanding.
With the information, deputies got a warrant for Torres-Garcia's arrest.
From the report, Miller notes that Torres-Garcia has six failure to appear, seven violations of probations and one violation of pre-trial release between December 1998 to February 2019. State records show Torres-Garcia has been in and out of prison from September 2006 through August 2015 for various offenses that include grand theft, burglary and aggravated stalking.
— Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Convicted felon denied bond in Summerfield stabbing
