One of the two Cuban-origin brothers arrested on Monday afternoon after a violent altercation with an employee at a tire shop in southwest Miami-Dade turned out to be a former baseball player from Pinar del Río who participated in seven National Series and represented Vegueros for many years.
This was made known on social media by sports commentator Ernesto Amaya, who resides in Florida, specifying that the former player in question is Pedro Luis Rodríguez.
Sports career of Pedro Luis Rodríguez
The news has caused shock among baseball fans in Pinar del Río, where Pedro Luis Rodríguez is a much-loved former athlete.
During his career in Cuba, he participated in seven National Series, achieving a batting average of .266 with 214 hits in 804 at-bats.
He also connected 37 doubles, 11 home runs, drove in 129 runs, and scored 95. His final offensive line was .327/.353/.680 (OBP/SLG/OPS), as revealed by the sports media outlet Swing Completo.
Rodríguez made his debut in the National Series in 2010, although his career faced interruptions. He temporarily retired from the sport in 2013, returning for the 2017-2018 season. In 2020-2021, he marked his definitive exit from Cuban baseball.
The incident that has led him to prison.
The altercation took place at Tire Liquidators Miami II, located at 2090 Southwest 67th Avenue. The brothers visited the establishment to file a complaint about a previous job done on their vehicle.
According to the arrest report - cited by local media - the situation escalated quickly when customers began to argue with the mechanic, referred to as the "victim" in the report, whose identity has not been revealed.
The employee attempted to manage the situation by providing the contact information of the business owners. However, one of the brothers began to hit the employee several times, prompting the mechanic to draw a firearm he had at his waist and raise it into the air.
In response, the brothers allegedly jumped on the mechanic, hitting him repeatedly in the head and body. During the fight, the mechanic fired three times, hitting Pedro Luis Rodríguez in the leg.
Subsequently, Pedro Luis Rodríguez took the mechanic's weapon and struck him on the head while saying, "What you really deserve is to be killed."
The employee managed to escape from the office, but was caught outside by Luis Ángel Rodríguez, who continued to beat him, seized his brother's weapon, and pointed it at the mechanic, according to the police report.
The employee ended up with bruises on both arms and a laceration on the head, but did not require hospitalization.
Pedro Luis Rodríguez was taken to Ryder Trauma Center in stable condition due to a leg injury. Both he and his brother were arrested shortly thereafter.
Pedro Luis Rodríguez faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, while Luis Ángel Rodríguez is accused of assault and aggravated assault with a firearm, according to court records.
The business owner -of Cuban origin- defended his employee, stating that he was aware the man was carrying a firearm for security reasons, and indicated that the employee will continue working at the store following the incident.
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