A male suspected of fatally stabbing his younger brother and severely injuring his father early Thursday morning was taken to the hospital around 7 p.m. Thursday with serious injuries after eyewitnesses say he threw himself in front of an incoming truck on U.S. 1 in Islamorada — next to Executive Bay Club, where the stabbing incident had occurred.
The 17-year-old suspect, Daniel Weisberger, was en route to a hospital in Miami with severe injuries, said Adam Linhardt, media relations director with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
“He’s very badly injured,” Linhardt said.
Eyewitnesses say they saw the young male in a grey hoodie standing along U.S. 1 near Executive Bay Club at Mile Marker 87.2, bayside, around 7 p.m.
Upper Keys resident John Gallant said he was driving south on U.S. 1 when he saw a male subject along the road. Gallant said the young male was, “staring off like nobody was home.”
“I turned around at Founders [Park] and I drove back up to park on Old Highway. People who were behind me drove up a few seconds later. They got out of their car and yelled, at which point, the male freaked out and started running diagonally across U.S. 1 southbound.”
As soon as the male got into the median, Gallant said it looked like he was stopping as a northbound truck was approaching. Gallant said people were yelling, “Stop,” but the male subject lunged toward the truck.
“He caught the side and the mirror,” Gallant said. “We ran over. He was face down. Two people stopped, including a young man who appeared to have medical training and a nurse.”
Eyewitnesses said there were several lacerations on his neck and his breathing was labored. Deputies and fire rescue subsequently arrived on scene. Florida Highway Patrol was investigating the accident. Traffic was diverted off U.S. 1 in between Founders Park and Executive Bay Club.
Upper Keys resident Anna Richards was riding her bike with friends on Old Highway when she witnessed the incident unfold. Richards said the male subject made two attempts to run into traffic. A truck traveling south slammed on its brakes and dodged the male subject the first time he tried to cross U.S. 1. The subject crossed a second time and hit another truck traveling on U.S. 1.
Earlier in the morning, the sheriff’s office was called to Executive Bay Club following reports that a 17-year-old Upper Keys resident, identified as Daniel Weisberger, had fatally stabbed his 14-year-old brother and critically stabbed his father, Ariel Poholek, early Thursday morning in Islamorada.
He remained on the run throughout the morning and afternoon as the sheriff’s office searched. They received assistance from multiple agencies, including from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Homestead Police, Florida Highway Patrol and Fish & Wildlife.
During an afternoon press conference, Ramsay said a neighbor first heard a disturbance inside the family’s apartment around 4 a.m. Roughly two hours later, around 6 a.m., the father, 43-year-old Ariel Poholek, came running out of the apartment and told a neighbor what had happened while asking for help.
Ramsay said when the attack took place, the father tried to enter the bedroom to see what was going on when he, too, was attacked.
The father was able to escape from the apartment, where he sought assistance from the neighbor. Sheriff’s deputies arrived within two minutes, but Daniel Weisberger had fled by then.
“The father relays he was held hostage in that room for approximately two hours while he had multiple injuries to his neck — the (older) son, still holding a butcher knife, would not let him leave,” Ramsay said.
The Sheriff’s Office reported that Poholek is listed in stable condition at Ryder Trauma Center in Miami as of Thursday evening.
