The 17-year-old accused of fatally stabbing his 14-year-old brother and critically stabbing his father during the early morning hours of May 7 in Islamorada was officially charged with murder and aggravated battery on May 12.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says the suspect, Daniel Weisberger, remains hospitalized at Ryder Trauma Center in Miami after running into U.S. 1 and hitting a truck 15 hours after the incident. Weisberger, who remains in ICU, is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
The stabbing incident inside the Executive Bay apartment began around 4 a.m. on May 7 to the evening hours when Weisberger hit the side of a truck on U.S. 1.
“There were only three people in the room, and one is deceased and the other one — the young man we believe is the suspect,” Ramsay said in a press conference on May 7.
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.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived within two minutes, but Weisberger had fled.
Helicopters, tactical teams and K-9 units from the sheriff’s office and neighboring law enforcement agencies searched for the suspect throughout the morning and afternoon. The manhunt spanned from Islamorada to Tavernier with no sightings of Weisberger.
At about 7 p.m. on May 7, people who were traveling on U.S. 1 and Old Highway near Executive Bay saw a young male who fit Weisberger’s description.
Upper Keys resident John Gallant said he was driving south on U.S.1 when he saw a male along the road, “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,” he said. “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 arrived, as well as Florida Highway Patrol. Traffic was diverted off U.S. 1 between Founders Park and Executive Bay Club. Weisberger was airlifted out to the hospital in Miami.
All in all, Ramsay said the important thing is the suspect is no longer a threat to the general public and officers.
“We hate to see that he’s hurt. We were hoping to capture him alive and unharmed,” he said. “We were concerned about him being on the loose.”
Poholek is continuing his recovery and expects to be released from the hospital soon.
