Inset: Jack Daniel Gutierrez (Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation). Background: The beach near the 1700 block of Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida (Google Maps).
A suspect in Miami Beach, Florida, is accused of slashing a man's throat because the victim did not give him a cigarette or let him borrow his cellphone.
Jack Daniel Gutierrez, 24, stands charged with aggravated battery with a weapon causing great bodily harm, Miami-Dade County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The defendant is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond.
On Oct. 23, 2025, a man was walking along the beach in Miami Beach near the 1700 block of Collins Avenue when he decided to sit near a lifeguard tower, according to an arrest report obtained by Miami-based independent station WPLG. As he sat, he was approached by another man identified as Gutierrez.
Gutierrez asked the seated man whether he had a cigarette to share, according to authorities, to which the man replied he does not smoke. The suspect then asked whether he could borrow the man's cellphone. Once again, he was rejected.
That appeared to be the end of the interaction, at least according to the eventual victim, who thought his new interlocutor had walked away. However, suddenly Gutierrez attacked him with "a knife or bladed weapon," police said, and the victim felt a "puncture to his neck."
The suspect then ran away, but the victim "felt a heavy volume of blood pouring from his neck," according to the report, which was also reviewed by McClatchy News. The victim was able to call 911 through a hands-free Siri application on his phone, and officers arrived to find him with a "large laceration along [his] neck from ear to ear."
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and treated. His current status is unclear, though WPLG reported he later identified Gutierrez in a photo lineup.
Police searched for the suspect and arrested him on Thursday.
Jail records show Gutierrez was on probation at the time of the attack on a weapons charge. He is expected back in court on Monday.