Two men in Florida engaged in an old-fashioned blade fight that included a machete and a hatchet before they were both taken to the hospital and arrested. A woman who recorded footage of the fight in the supermarket parking lot identified one of the men as her boyfriend and the other as her ex. Witnesses say the fight started as a verbal spat before escalating to an outright struggle with blades.
Two Florida men charged for engaging in fight using machete and hatchet
On Tuesday, August 4, 35-year-old James Gay approached with his red car toward 52-year-old Everette Krichbabum who was in his vehicle at the time before they fought each other in a Publix parking lot, according to arrest documents obtained by WJHG.
The woman who started recording the fight got out of the passenger seat of Krichbabum’s car and can be heard trying to tell Gay to stop and leave her boyfriend alone.
The arrest affidavit from Panama City Police says that after Gay and Krichbabum exchanged some heated words, Gay went back to his vehicle and retrieved a sheathed machete. The victim then grabbed a knife that was also still in its sheath. The video shows that Gay took out the machete as he walked toward the victim’s car. This led to a physical struggle over both weapons, with Gay striking Krichbabum with the machete in the face and knocking him unconscious.
The two men sustained injuries to their hands and were brought to a hospital for treatment before being arrested.
Gay later admitted to police that he started the confrontation because Krichbabum had allegedly been harassing him and that he chose not to leave the scene over “personal pride.” He also admitted to stomping on the victim while he was on the ground.
Both men were charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Kirchbabum attempted to flee the scene, becoming a wanted felon, but he was arrested the following day at his residence in Vernon by deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
