A South Florida man is behind bars after authorities say he kicked a small dog and attacked two people because of their Cuban ethnicity.
Alexander Gomez-Jimenez, 30, is facing two counts of battery as a hate crime and one count of tormenting a dog following his arrest in Pembroke Pines Sunday. It was unknown whether he has an attorney.
"Sir, last night I got brutally attacked by two Cubans and a Boxer dog," Gomez-Jimenez told Judge John Hurley during his bond court appearance Monday morning. "And they punched my mother in the head."
According to a police affidavit read in court by Hurley, officers were called to Buttonwood Avenue Sunday to break up a fight. Police said Gomez-Jimenez confronted two people who were walking their 50-pound Boxer and began yelling disparaging remarks, Hurley said.
"You stupid Cubans, I hate Cubans," Gomez-Jimenez said, according to the affidavit, before he started swinging his fists at the two victims.
Gomez-Jimenez also kicked the dog, causing it to yelp in pain, Hurley said.
One of the victims suffered an abrasion to their neck, while another had a lip injury, Hurley said. The dog appeared to be uninjured.
"Your honor, I'm handicapped, I wouldn't attack two Cubans and a Boxer dog, your honor," Gomez-Jimenez told Hurley, as he appeared to continually flex his wrist.
Gomez-Jimenez explained that he has surgery on his arm and had metal plates put in.
Hurley set Gomez-Jimenez's bond at $5,000 on each count, for a total of $15,000, but ordered him held without bond on other pending cases.
"Going after people, it really just looks like gratuitous violence against people of a different ethnicity than you," Hurley said. "And then the dog, it seems like the dog didn't do anything, you just exacted violence on the animal for no good reason."
"Your honor, I never had a battery charge before in my life," Gomez-Jimenez said.
Hurley also ordered Gomez-Jimenez to stay away from the victims and the dog.
Photo Credit: Broward Sheriff's Office