Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud was arrested in West Palm Beach after he allegedly tried to run over a member of an LGBTQ running group during a rally at a local park. A Florida man is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and one count of reckless driving.
El Mahmoud could also face hate crime charges and prejudice enhancement charges for allegedly targeting the group because of their sexual orientation.
According to west palm beach policeEl Mahmoud allegedly became angry when a runner asked her if she was at Howard Park for a regular meeting of the Night Runners West Palm Beach group, which she took as a comment about her sexual orientation.
Rudolf Galindo, a club member who contacted El Mahmoud, said: WPBF He left after El Mahmoud denied joining the running group, but noted that the 43-year-old seemed “furious” at his questions.
Shortly after Galindo left, El Mahmoud allegedly got into his car and drove toward about 40 runners who had gathered at the park.
“He got in the car, got out of the car, accelerated, put his foot down on the pedal and came towards where I was standing,” Galindo said. “I’ve never seen a car fly at me that fast in my life.”
Galindo said El Mahmoud started driving erratically and the runners fled behind two trees. He added that El Mahmoud sped through the parking lot, then made a U-turn and drove back toward the group.
“We were behind a tree, and at this point he didn’t seem to have any limits on what he wanted to do or what he wanted to do,” Galindo said.
Cellphone video from the scene shows the SUV jumping the curb, crashing through the grass, onto Okeechobee Boulevard and speeding toward downtown West Palm Beach.
Police responded around 8:20 p.m. and spoke with club members, who provided a description of the Ford Bronco SUV used in the incident.
Officers issued a bulletin regarding the SUV. Shortly afterward, a man matching the suspect’s description was seen pulling into a parking lot in the 700 block of North Dixie Highway and removing his license plate. Police responded and detained the driver, later identified as El Mahmoud.
Galindo told WPBF he doesn’t know if El Mahmoud intended just to scare the runners or if he intended to hurt anyone.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “He certainly had the ability to do that, and I don’t think he would have been upset if he had hit someone.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
