Don’t bring a samurai sword to a trash fight.
That’s the message police in Broward County, Fla., are sending after arresting one man in connection with a bizarre conflict over a pile of junk.
Curtis Miller, 54, was arrested Monday on an attempted second-degree murder charge in connection with the incident, which was caught on video July 15.
Police say the victim, Todd Beavers, was out jogging when he saw the suspect perusing a bulk trash pile in the neighbourhood of Oakland Park. Beavers claimed a wheelbarrow from the pile that the suspect also wanted, and the two men started arguing.
“The two exchanged words, but the jogger took the cart and ran behind it as he pushed the item home,” police said in a statement.
The suspect caught up with Beavers outside Beavers’ home a short time later, where the home security cameras captured the encounter.
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The footage shows Beavers standing at the edge of his driveway with the wheelbarrow while talking on the phone. He notices the suspect coming toward him down the street and steps out onto the sidewalk.
The suspect can be seen unsheathing a samurai-style katana sword just as he enters the frame. He takes a few stuttering wind-up steps, then raises the sword behind his back and swings it in a heavy downhand swipe at the victim.
The video shows the two men grappling over the wheelbarrow. The suspect swings the sword several times but does not appear to hit Beavers.
“When he pulled out the sword, I thought… ‘Is he really going to do this?'” Beavers told WSVN in August.
After a brief skirmish, the suspect lets go of the wheelbarrow and backs up. The victim can be seen pointing at the security camera, which has just captured the entire encounter.
The video ends with a woman dragging the cart away.
Beavers was not injured in the attack.
Police initially released the video in August in hopes of identifying the sword-wielding man and the woman.
The woman later came forward to identify herself as the owner of the property with the trash pile.
The suspect is being held without bond on unrelated charges, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
Beavers has said he regrets grabbing the cart, because he had no idea it would lead to such an intense dispute.
“I don’t even need it,” he said. “I just felt really stupid about it.”
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