Shocking new body camera video shows a suspect repeatedly stabbing a Florida deputy before he was taken into custody, authorities said.
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The incident unfolded the evening of May 13 in Dunnellon when Deputy Robert Fitch responded to a suspicious person call, Marion County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
“Hey buddy,” Fitch says in the video as the encounters the suspect, who suddenly ambushes him, knocking the deputy to the ground as he stabs him multiple times before running into a wooded area.
Authorities said Fitch’s bulletproof vest saved his life.
“He had something in his hand, I can’t confirm if it was a knife but he was, I was on the ground and he was steady hitting my chest and my vest got it,” Fitch says in the video as he speaks on his radio.
Later in the video, as other deputies respond, Fitch spots the suspect crossing a road.
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“Get on the ground, get on the ground now!” the deputy yells. “He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife …I almost shot him earlier.”
The suspect, 38-year-old Medina Marquez, was taken into custody and placed in the back of a patrol car.
“I should have killed you b—-, you know that, right? I should have killed you, you’re lucky I didn’t,” Marquez tells Fitch in a video from inside the car. “I would have stabbed you in your neck, you’re lucky I didn’t, thank God for that s—.”
Marquez is facing a charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. He was booked into jail and was being held without bond.
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