Jury finds man guilty of aggravated battery
A man has been found guilty of slicing his employer with a box cutter while on a Sanibel job site.
Eligao Alberta Sivira Hernandez, 40, of 360 Beach 13th St., Far Rockaway, New York, was adjudicated guilty on one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon or causing harm — a second-degree felony — on Sept. 28 after a jury trial in Lee County. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16 at 9 a.m.
On April 5 at about 1:30 p.m., the Sanibel Police Department responded to a 911 call on the “C” span of the Sanibel Causeway. The caller said one person had stabbed another person and both were onsite.
According to a police report, Hernandez and his employer were involved in a verbal dispute at a job site at 1212 Sand Castle Road. He used a silver box cutter to cut his employer’s arm in two spots.
Police reported that Hernandez fled the scene in a vehicle, and his employer and a witness left in another vehicle to head to the hospital. Both vehicles then stopped on the “C” span of the causeway.
The report states that both stopped on the causeway and waited for the police to show up.
In a prepared statement, the Sanibel police reported that the vehicles stopped at the same spot for an unknown reason and that the victim and witness locked themselves in their vehicle and called 911.
All three were present when police and Lee County EMS arrived. The employer’s injuries were treated, and Hernandez was taken to Health Park for a self-inflicted or possibly self-inflicted cut on his arm.
Later in the day, Sanibel police arrested and charged him with one count of aggravated battery cause bodily harm or disability. Hernandez was taken to the Lee County Jail and held on $25,000 bond.