A Big Pine man was airlifted to a Miami hospital with severe injuries and two others were arrested for inflicting them during a fight Friday evening on Big Pine Key.
The victim and one of the suspects – 48 year old Richard Steepy – are neighbors. Steepy and the other suspect, 28 year old Romis Rodriguez, were working on a boat in a canal behind Steepy’s home at 6:30 p.m.
According to a witness who saw the whole incident, the 52 year old victim began to yell at the two men then picked up a handful of small rocks and threw them at Steepy and Rodriguez. As the victim turned and began walking away, STeepy and Rodriguez attacked him. They punched him numerous times, continuing to do so as the victim fell to the ground. The victim became unconscious and the two suspects began to walk away from him. Rodriguez turned around and walked back toward the victim, kicking him with the steel toed shoes he was wearing.
The victim suffered fractures in his face and was airlifted to a Miami hospital due to bleeding on his brain. Rodriguez and Steepy were charged with aggravated assault and were taken to jail.