A woman was sucker-punched while walking down Calle Ocho. Attacker jailed: cops

A woman in her 60s was left battered and bleeding after being punched in the face as she walked down Calle Ocho on Thursday, according to the Miami Police Department. At around noon, police were called to the Calle Ocho Sports Bar and Grill, 1010 SW Eighth St., where they found the woman sitting in a chair and bleeding from the nose, according to the arrest affidavit of Tavaris Greene, 40, who is charged with battery. Greene appeared in bond court on Friday morning before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer, who said she deemed him a danger to the community and set his bond at $150,000, even higher than prosecutors had requested. Prosecutors had asked for Greene’s bond to be set at $50,000, citing his criminal history, including a 340-day sentence for charges that included battery. Greene is jailed at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He also has an open, petty-theft case and was out on felony bond at the time of his most recent arrest, jail records show. The woman told police she was walking eastbound on Southwest Eighth Street near 11th Avenue when a man walking westbound punched her in the face. Greene ran away, and bystanders helped the woman and called 911. The assault was captured on surveillance footage, police said. She was taken to Mercy Hospital by Miami Fire Rescue. Police say she had a fractured nose and a laceration that required sutures in her left cheek.

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At around 3 p.m., a man matching the attacker’s description was spotted by police, detained and identified as Greene. One officer said he recognized Greene and had arrested him before. Greene was taken to be interviewed and “spontaneously stated that he was fine but having a bad day because he punched someone,” according to his arrest affidavit. He again said he had punched someone before fleeing to his house, though he is listed as homeless, and said he had been taking a nap and smoking weed before being detained.

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Miami Herald Staff Writer Grethel Aguila contributed to this report.