Bond Denied For Man Accused In Dog Poop Shooting
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Southwest Miami-Dade man, accused of shooting a man during a dispute over his dog pooping in a yard, will remain in jail.
During a hearing Tuesday morning 66-year old Omar Rodriguez, who is charged with attempted first degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, was denied bond.
On Saturday, June 20th, Rodriguez got into an argument with Jose Rey who was walking his dog in the area of SW 97th Street and 103 Avenue, near Rodriguez's son's home.
As the two argued about Rey's dog, Rodriguez noticed what appeared to be a shiny object in Rey's hand, according to the police report. Rodriguez grabbed a gun from his car and fired at least two shots.
"He admitted that when he claimed to see something in Mr. Rey's hand that he returned to his car, he admitted to fetching his gun, and he admitted to packing a round in its chamber, and admitted to pointing that gun at Mr. Rey," the prosecutor said Tuesday.
The prosecutor said that, according to witnesses, Mr. Rey had his hands out and was backing away at the time he was shot.
The defense attorney said that Mr. Rey was apparently looking for a fight, "this appears to be a classic, sort-of, in the heat-of-the-moment embroiled argument between neighbors."
Lizzy Rey, Jose's wife, showed up in court with 20 neighbors. Nobody would speak on camera Tuesday for fear of retaliation from Rodriguez who, even though he doesn't live in the neighborhood, is reportedly known as a trouble maker.
During a visit to Rodriguez's neighborhood, about a mile and a half away from his son's home where the incident happened, his wife threatened to call police if news crews didn't leave. Some people in his neighborhood say Rodriguez has harassed them for a decade.
According to a report obtained by CBS4, he repeatedly would file reports on his neighbor claiming they were stalking him or they were repeat violent offender. Every claim was unfounded.
Reports show that at one point Rodriguez was charged with bringing a firearm onto school property.
According to Miami-Dade Police, Rodriguez has called police more than 90 times.
Residents in Rey's neighborhood had similar complaints about Rodriguez.
"We've never had any problems in this neighborhood, until this guy moved in. He calls the cops on us when we park on the sidewalk," said Robert Warmington Monday.
"He's done everything from calling police on neighbors, code enforcement on neighbors, yelling at old ladies walking down the sidewalk, yelling at them, cursing," said Robert Suarez, who lives in the neighborhood.
"We just really hope that the judge and the state attorney makes sure that he no longer continues to be a threat. Obviously now that he's willing to take somebody's life, hopefully they take it seriously," said Suarez.
Mr. Rey's daughter told CBS4's Cynthia Demos that he is going into surgery Tuesday, and is thankful for the out pour of love and support from the community.
Friends of Rey set up a go fund me page to collect donations to help pay for his medical expenses.
