Three Marathon men who were arrested last Wednesday night after a fight with deputies were further charged Monday with aggravated battery.

Deputies responded to reports of a fight on 15^th Street at 11:30 p.m. on November 25^th. When they arrived, they found a man – 48 year old Ignacio Echeverria Aguila – lying in the street with severe injuries to his face and head. He was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center for treatment of his injuries.

As deputies began to investigate, they followed a blood trail to a nearby trailer. There were two women in front of the trailer. They both said they did not know what happened to the victim. One of the women,  46 year old Tania Espinosa Guevara, got up and began to walk away. At that point, Deputy Matthew Pitcher saw she had blood on both of her forearms. He told her to stop, so he could speak to her. Instead she began to walk away, faster.

Deputy Pitcher followed her and detained her, so he could determine if she had anything to do with the injuries to the victim. He asked Deputy Titus Hodges to go get his patrol car so they could place her in the back seat until they could determine what happened.

There were a number of other people in the area who had already been warned to stay back and to stay away from the incident scene so they would not damage evidence of what happened. The crowd included three men identified as 23 year old Asniel Ferrer Espinosa, the son of the woman who was detained; 27 year old Yacel Maza Hernandez, and 24 year old Yordany Rodriguez Marmol. The three disregarded deputy’s instructions and were walking around  in the area which had been clearly delineated with crime scene tape.

Deputy Pitcher continued to hold Guevara, and continued to order the men out of the crime scene. Deputy Titus Hodges arrived and also began to order the men to back up and to get out of the crime scene. As the men continued to come closer to the officers, they had to physically push them away. They called for backup officers to respond.

Marmol physically confronted Deputy Pitcher, and took a swing at him with his fist. Deputy Pitcher, who still had Guevara detained with one hand, swung at Marmol with his baton, hitting him in the right leg. Marmol started to run away and was detained by Deputy Hodges. Espinosa kicked Deputy Pitcher twice and Deputy Pitcher used his baton to strike Espinosa. As back up officers arrived, Hernandez also began to act aggressively, refusing to stand back and stay out of the way of the situation.

Deputy Garrett Bragg attempted to detain Hernandez, who struggled with him. Deputy Bragg deployed his Taser to subdue Hernandez until another deputy could assist him with taking him into custody.

Espinosa and Hernandez were placed in the back seat of a patrol car together. The arbitrator camera in the patrol car recorded them as they talked together in the car. At one point, Espinosa said “I wanted to cut off his head but they stopped me.” Hernandez said, “I gave him two punches and I thought I killed him.” Both men continued talking, saying “this was not over when they get out” and “we are going to get the officers.”

Detective Scott Ward responded to investigate the original injury to the victim, Aguila. He spoke with Guevara, who was in the back of a patrol car. She gave him permission to enter her trailer to investigate the blood trail that led away from the spot where the victim was found. She also told him it was her birthday and they had been having a small celebration. She said she heard a commotion outside and, when she went out to see what happened, she found the victim lying in the street. She said she got blood on her when she tried to help him. Guevara was eventually released and was not charged.

Espinosa and Hernandez were taken to Fishermen’s Hospital to be checked before being booked into jail. A nurse at the hospital later told Detective Ward the men were talking about the incident. She said according to what she overheard, the entire incident started because the victim, Aguilla, had propositioned Espinosa’s mother, Guevara, offering her money for sex.

Detective Ward met with the victim on Saturday, after he was released from the hospital in Miami. The victim said he could identify the first person who hit him, “and then he was knocked out.” He identified Marmol as the person who “threw the first punch that hit him in the face.”

Aguila sustained severe injuries to his face and head and will need numerous reconstructive surgeries to his jaw and other bones in his face. He has relocated to another area because he says he fears for his safety.

On Tuesday, Detective Ward obtained warrants for the arrest of Espinosa, Hernandez and Marmol. The three men were all arrested again and charged with aggravated battery. They are currently in the Monroe County Detention Center. Their bonds are all set at $100,000.