‘Malfunctioning weed-whacker’ sparks hallway brawl between Miami-Dade school custodians, police say

A spat over a “malfunctioning weed-whacker” eventually led to the head custodian at a Miami-Dade elementary school attacking a fellow janitor on campus, according to police.Officers with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department took Malachie Forestal, 40, into custody on a felony charge Tuesday at the Dr. Henry W. Mack/West Little River K-8 Center, located at 2450 NW 84th St. in unincorporated Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood. According to an arrest form, Forestal and the victim got into an argument at the school over the victim’s unfinished work, which the victim attributed to the aforementioned weed-whacker failure. The argument between the two eventually escalated into a physical fight, police said.According to the victim, he told police that Forestal “spoke to him disrespectfully” when informed the work wasn’t completed, authorities said. Later that morning, police said the victim began picking up trash in the school’s cafeteria when Forestal became upset about where the victim had left his keys. When the victim attempted to walk away, police said Forestal blocked his path, so the victim walked around him and into a hallway, after which Forestal followed the victim, “then entered the hallway, struck him, and grabbed him,” according to an arrest report. Arriving officers spoke to Forestal, who told them “he did not swing at or strike the victim, claiming instead that he only physically grappled with him” after alleging “the victim spoke disrespectfully to him, stating, ‘I’ll f— you up, b—,’” per official documents.However, investigators reviewed surveillance video which contradicted Forestal’s account, instead revealing that he “did swing at and grab the victim in the hallway before school staff members intervened and separated them,” according to an arrest form. Forestal is now facing a felony charge of battery on a specified official or employee. As of Wednesday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”

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