The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

READMITTED to a hospital in Florida due to severe swelling and excruciating pain in his face, Harold Williams warned Bahamian travellers to “stay on your guard” during their next visit to the United States.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday as he waited for a plastic surgeon to assess the gash in his left cheek, Mr Williams said he is traumatised, adding everyone should be concerned.

He said he hoped the attack on him was enough for there to be a crime warning to Bahamians visiting and living in the US to be alert.

His injury could require an additional three-day hospital stay, Mr Williams said.

On Saturday, Mr Williams, a Bahamasair manager, went into the Pines Market restaurant at 9610 Pines Boulevard to use the restroom and was attacked as he walked to the rear of the business. He has described it as an unprovoked attack which left him with a large slash on the side of his face and one of his eyes swollen shut.

“Beforehand, I guess I was kind of free-spirited and didn’t expect anything else especially in this kind of area, I mean it’s Pembroke Pines,” Mr Williams said, speaking to The Tribune from Florida yesterday. “You don’t expect not to be welcomed or to be a threat so I didn’t have any concern for that.

“Obviously there is need to have concern now.”

He also said: “We Bahamians, we feel like it’s the Bahamas. We can go anywhere coming to the United States.

“You have got to be aware of your surroundings and be aware of where you going. You have to be concerned.”

Asked if he considered the incident to be a hate crime, Mr Williams said based on what he’s been told it was. However, Florida police told this newspaper they are not investigating the matter as a hate crime.

“From the news and reports that I’m getting it seems to be a hate crime. This person apparently has some issues with blacks, period. I was unaware of that. I am just hearing that now. I can’t understand it because I mean he would only need to be a few shades darker and he would be black himself.

“I hope the Bahamas government really acts and sends out advisories as well,” Mr Williams further said. “If they can do it to us why shouldn’t we do it to them?”

Fawaz Zarif Hassan, 24, has been charged with one count of causing bodily harm or disability. It is a second-degree felony in Pembroke Pines, Broward County.

An official arrest report from the Pembroke Pines Police Department said the incident happened between 12pm and 12.09pm Saturday, March 16.

Additional notes listed on the report said: “The listed defendant did knowingly and intentionally stab the victim on the left cheek area with a knife against his will causing permanent disfigurement.

“The victim stated that he entered the business located at 9610 Pines Blvd (Pines Market) and stated that he needed to use the restroom at which point defendant Fawaz went with him to the back are where the bathroom was located.

“The victim stated that as he made his way to the bathroom he felt what he believed that that defendant punched him on the face but shortly realised that he had been stabbed on the left cheek area.

“The victim then walked over to the MD Now Urgent Care clinic located at 9650 Pines Blvd to look for medical attention as he continued to bleed profusely and attended to by medical staff who then contacted 911. The victim told the urgent care staff that he was stabbed at the Pines Market.

“Contact was made with defendant at the business and he spontaneously uttered that the victim attempted to enter the rear of the business at which point he had to defend himself and stabbed the victim in the face. On scene investigation did not reveal that the victim was armed, presented any threat or had any intention to commit a crime within the business.

“There is CCTV footage of the incident which shows the victim entering the business with no weapons in his hands and also captured the moment before the stabbing and just after the stabbing where the victim is seen backing up with his hands up after having been stabbed,” the arrest report also said.

According to a report on 7 News Monday, Mr Williams said the man who stabbed him didn’t say a word.

“I tried to get out of there, because he looked like he was coming to stab me again,” he said, “and the other guy who was with him, he just opened the door and said to me, ‘Never come back here again.’”

Mr Hassan was released on bond and a court date is pending.

The police report also noted he does not have any prior arrests.