- April 18, 2024
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A Daytona North man who called to report he had been shot in the head, was arrested Tuesday, March 15, after he armed himself with a machete when Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the call, according to a Wednesday press release by the Sheriff's Office.
Rafael Rodriguez, 25, of Guava Lane, called the Sheriff’s Office around 9:56 p.m., saying he had been shot in the head. Deputies and medical personnel arrived at the Guava Lane home, but Rodriguez refused medical treatment. Deputies reported the man had a 2-inch cut on his head, but they were unable to determine if it was the result of a gunshot wound.
Rodriguez was highly intoxicated, and a language barrier made it difficult for deputies to investigate what had happened, according to the report.
He also became uncooperative with the deputies. Deputies were able to determine that an incident had occurred nearly four hours earlier at another residence involving a vehicle registered to Rodriguez’s wife.
Rodriguez told deputies he had argued with two men over the vehicle, which later was located at a home on Canal Avenue, in Daytona North. Several people at the residence said Rodriguez had been drinking with them earlier in the day, but denied any knowledge about the man being shot.
At about the same time, deputies received a call about a man throwing a Molotov cocktail into the roadway on Mahogany Boulevard.
The man turned out to be Rodriguez, who fled the scene and returned to his home on Guava Lane. When deputies arrived, Rodriguez exited his property and began walking toward the deputies, carrying an 18-inch machete in his hand. In Spanish, deputies ordered him to drop the weapon, but Rodriguez continued to approach them. Deputies deployed a stun gun, and Rodriguez fell to the ground. He was taken into custody.
“This man was fortunate that he was not seriously injured as a result of his actions,” Sheriff Donald Fleming said Wednesday in a press release. “Alcohol and weapons are never a wise mixture.”
Rodriguez was transported to Florida Hospital Flagler, where he refused medical attention, and then to the Flagler County Inmate Facility. He was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence. He is being detained at the inmate facility after U.S. Immigration and Customs placed a hold on him.
