A Florida couple says a brief encounter while walking to work spiraled into a frightening roadside attack that left them pepper-sprayed, bruised and battered — with part of the confrontation caught on video.
Felyz Rodriguez and Davin Lopez told NBC South Florida they were walking to work Sunday night, Sept. 20, in northwest Miami-Dade when they briefly stepped into the roadway.
According to the couple, women passing them in a car began shouting for them to get out of the street.
“They were like, guys, get out of the road, idiots,” Lopez told NBC6.
Lopez acknowledged making a hand gesture toward the vehicle after the exchange.
That apparently did not end the confrontation.
The driver turned the car around and came back toward the couple, according to their account.
Rodriguez, who is transgender, began recording with her cellphone as the situation escalated.
Video from the scene shows Lopez approaching the vehicle while questioning why its occupants were bothering them.
Moments later, the couple says, two women got out.
“Next thing you know, one gets out and starts pepper spraying me,” Lopez said.
The sound of what appears to be pepper spray being discharged can be heard in video recorded during the confrontation.
Things quickly became physical.
Another video recorded by a nearby resident appears to show one of the women grabbing Rodriguez by the hair near the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Rodriguez said she deliberately tried not to fight back because she did not want the situation to become even more dangerous.
“She yanks me, I’m trying my best to not put my hands on anybody because instead of trying to make it worse I’m trying to de-escalate it,” Rodriguez told NBC6.
The confrontation took another alarming turn when the vehicle began moving.
Rodriguez said that while she was struggling near the open driver’s-side door, another woman got behind the wheel and reversed.
Video appears to show Rodriguez becoming caught near the open door before being knocked to the ground as the car moved.
A nearby resident who was filming the confrontation can be heard reacting in horror.
“There is a girl in a car trying to run over a guy at the corner of my house,” the witness told authorities during a phone call captured on video.
The witness then screams as Rodriguez falls beside the moving vehicle.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the scene, but the people inside the vehicle had already left by the time law enforcement arrived, according to NBC6.
Investigators said Rodriguez and Lopez suffered bruising, cuts and swelling and were also experiencing burning from the pepper spray.
There were no reports that either victim suffered life-threatening injuries.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office General Investigations Unit has since taken over the investigation. No arrests had been announced in the initial report.
For Rodriguez and Lopez, the biggest unanswered question is why the encounter became violent in the first place.
“It was all unprovoked; we’re just walking,” Rodriguez said.
She described herself as confused, distraught and traumatized by what happened.
Rodriguez also questioned whether her identity as a transgender woman could have played a role.
“Is it a hate crime, is it something personal, or is it simply you have nothing to do?” she asked.
Authorities have not publicly said that investigators have classified the incident as a hate crime, and NBC6’s report did not identify evidence establishing a motive.
Under Florida law, certain crimes can carry enhanced penalties when investigators and prosecutors establish that a victim was intentionally targeted because of characteristics protected under the state’s hate-crime statute. At this stage, however, police have not announced such a determination in this case.
Lopez also spoke publicly after the attack, saying he hoped investigators would identify the women responsible and hold them accountable.
Rodriguez and Lopez told NBC6 they intend to pursue charges.
“This was my life and my partner’s life on the line,” Rodriguez said. “So whatever consequences come to them, they have to face it on their own.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
