A couple of criminals got pretty stabby in Orlando last week, according to the Orlando Police Department, but, thankfully, their efforts were abject failures.
On Thursday, April 24, Chris Griffin was waiting for a bus on West Colonial Drive when he observed a guy drinking booze not far away. The man was Haitian-born Gesper Alexis, 31, who presumably needed some liquid courage to get his blood up before approaching Griffin. Alexis pulled out a pocketknife, locked the blade back and threatened to stab Griffin if he didn’t hand over his Lynx bus pass.
While Griffin states in a police report that he was in fear for his life, he held fast and refused Alexis. It turns out that was enough to make the drunk mugger’s plan fall apart. Alexis retreated into a nearby apartment complex, where he was detained by a security guard and an Orlando police officer. On Tuesday, April 22, another bladed scenario unfolded at Jones High School when police responded to a call about a fight.
Tierra Gipson, 19, waited outside the school to attack another girl with a box-cutter and a bottle of bleach. She admitted her guilt to police and claimed that the ambush was a pre-emptive strike: “Gipson explained that she has been having issues with some girls and she thought she might get jumped,” the police report reads.
Ironically, though, it was Gipson who showed up with reinforcements, and it’s probably a good thing, too. One of the back-up girls – Gipson’s cousin – snatched the bleach and box-cutter from her hands before blows were thrown. So instead of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder, she was only charged with aggravated assault with a weapon and simple battery. Still, her brutal tactics would be of great use in the land of guard towers and spoon shanks.
