Two men face felony charges after alleged machete confrontation with couple in Coral Springs parking lot
Coral Springs, Florida – Two men are facing felony charges after Coral Springs police say they confronted a couple in a parked vehicle while carrying machetes during an incident in a local parking lot.
Aaron Gallegos Ortiz, 43, of Coral Springs, and Pedro Raymundo, 44, of Deerfield Beach, were each charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a third-degree felony.
The incident happened on the night of Aug. 9 in a parking lot in the 10700 block of Northwest 45th Street, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Coral Springs police.
Investigators said a woman and a man were sitting inside a vehicle when a green van pulled into the area next to them. The woman told officers that people inside the van had been involved in an argument with her boyfriend the previous day.
According to the affidavit, the woman had asked the men to leave the area. Instead, police say, the situation escalated, with the men becoming belligerent and yelling at the couple in Spanish.
The woman also told investigators that she had encountered the same individuals once before, several months earlier.
The confrontation reportedly became more serious when the green van backed into a parking space behind the couple’s vehicle. Two men then got out of the van, each carrying a machete, and approached the couple’s car.
Police described the approach as threatening. According to the affidavit, Gallegos Ortiz was holding a machete above his head and appeared to be preparing to swing it. The other man was also carrying a machete, but investigators said it was pointed toward the ground.
Faced with the confrontation, the couple drove away from the parking lot.
Investigators later found evidence that they said supported the couple’s account of what happened. When officers arrived, a machete was reportedly visible in plain view inside the suspects’ vehicle.
Because the vehicle could not be secured and needed to be towed, officers conducted an inventory search. That search led to the discovery of a second machete, according to the affidavit.
Police said the two machetes supported the victims’ accounts that both men had been armed during the confrontation.
The witnesses also provided investigators with identification information. One person in the vehicle identified both suspects, while the other was able to identify only one of them. The affidavit said the difference was attributed to where the woman had been seated inside the vehicle.
The case also includes a statement that investigators say Raymundo made after receiving medical clearance. According to the affidavit, Raymundo spontaneously told Coral Springs police in Spanish that if he had done what he was accused of, “he would have killed the victims.”
Police arrested both men later that same night.
Broward Sheriff’s Office booking records show that Raymundo was taken into custody at 8:22 p.m. on Aug. 9. Gallegos Ortiz was arrested several hours later, at 11:57 p.m.
Both men were booked into the main jail.
The charges stem from the alleged confrontation and the evidence collected by investigators, including the two machetes found in connection with the green van and statements from the people who were inside the parked vehicle.
Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill is classified as a third-degree felony in Florida. The allegations described in the affidavit form the basis for the criminal charges against the two men.
The case now moves forward through the court system, where the allegations against Gallegos Ortiz and Raymundo will be addressed. The arrests and charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
