Opa-locka business owner tied up, beaten

Neighbor finds victim, 76, beaten inside shop

OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – A South Florida business owner is fighting for his life after he was nearly beaten to death Thursday morning.

Armando Hernandez, 76, has owned his own carburetor shop for 30 years on the same Opa-locka block.

"It's hard, it's hard to see my uncle laying there that somebody in this world can be so senseless to beat him the way that they did," said Hernandez's nephew, Jorge Hernandez.

Hernandez says his uncle left home around 7 a.m. Thursday to open up his shop at 290 Ali Baba Avenue.

Later in the morning, a neighbor noticed a door at the shop was wide open, but the business was still closed.

The neighbor went inside and found the elder Hernandez badly beaten, tied up and clinging to life.

"You can't recognize him right now. He's swollen. It's not him. It's not my uncle," his nephew told Local 10's Terrell Forney.

Police have not yet said if they have any leads or possible suspects in the case.

Detectives have sealed off the shop to preserve possible evidence.

Meanwhile, his family holds out hope for a miracle.

"I just want my uncle to recover. Of course I want whoever did this to be caught, but I just want my uncle OK," Hernandez said.


About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.