MIAMI _ Nachem Gross stood his ground _ against possible coronavirus infection.
So says the attorney for the 72-year-old Gross, who was with his wife inside an elevator at the 44-story Portofino Tower in South Beach. The condo association had mandated only two persons per ride, to safeguard against the spread of COVID-19, but a fellow resident tried entering the elevator.
Gross held up two fingers, trying to explain. The masked man walked in anyway. Gross pushed him. The man stumbled backward.
For that push _ captured on elevator surveillance video _ Gross is now being charged with aggravated battery on an elderly person. Gross is scheduled to surrender at Miami Beach police headquarters on Thursday morning.
His attorney, Michael Grieco, called the arrest outrageous because Gross and his wife both have health issues that make them at risk of succumbing to the highly contagious respiratory disease. Under Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, people have no duty to retreat before using force to counter a threat.
"Miami Beach police is not taking into account the fact that we live in the time of COVID and immunocompromised people, and all people, should be able to protect themselves from anyone invading their space," said Grieco. "This is a straight-up Stand Your Ground self-defense case."
His arrest comes as the number of people catching the coronavirus across Florida have skyrocketed, with over 158,000 confirmed cases and 1,000 deaths in Miami-Dade County. The surge of cases has put a pause on government plans to reopen public spaces, schools and businesses against the backdrop of a tanking worldwide economy.
The man who was pushed has not been identified. He suffered only a bruise when he hit a hallway table, Grieco said.
"The MBPD was contacted by the victim and a subsequent investigation was launched. After conferring with the State Attorney's Office, it was determined an arrest should be made and is pending," said Miami Beach Police Officer Ernesto Rodriguez, a spokesman.
As interactions in public spaces are rising, so are clashes associated with the novel coronavirus _ the Internet is replete with videos of "mask-shaming," or people confronting others for their lack of masks. designed to cut down on saliva droplets in the air. Last week, in Fernandina Beach, a woman intentionally coughed on a cancer patient after she was called out for not wearing a mask.
Across the country, those clashes over invading one another's personal spaces have led to a handful of arrests, but most for coughing on people or threatening to spread the coronavirus.
Condo buildings in South Florida, in particular, have struggled to enforce social-distancing guidelines for residents living in packed complexes with many shared spaces.
"It isn't always possible to enforce social distancing. You can't tell people to wait for the next elevator," Mia Patch, a board member of the Brickell Alliance, an organization of condo managers representing about 40 buildings, told the Miami Herald last month.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is planning to soon weigh in on guidance for how to manage social distancing in elevators, according to the New York Times. Measures will include recommending a limit on the number of riders, arrows marking paths, and urging people to not talk to avoid droplets of saliva, a CDC industrial hygienist told the newspaper.
Most South Florida condo buildings have already issued rules designed to cut down on crowds.
At the Continuum on South Beach, which is next door to the Portofino, the condo association has posted fliers and sent out repeated emails explaining only one family is allowed per elevator ride. Still, in a building that is 40 stories tall, the extra wait to go up and down can be grating.
"People's nerves are frayed. Neighbors who are normally cordial with each other are becoming hostile," said Kenneth Weisman, a lawyer who lives in the building. "I've personally witnessed these interactions in the elevators and common areas."
In Gross' case, he and his wife _ both wearing masks _ entered the elevator from their unit at the Portofino on the 39th floor on June 22.
Surveillance video shows the elevator stopped and a young woman tried to get on. Gross waved her off and she immediately backed away to wait for another ride. Moments later, on another floor, the doors opened again. Gross held up two fingers to signal only two people were allowed but the unidentified man put his forearm up and tried to walk in.
Gross held his forearm up too _ and extended it when the man moved forward. The push does not appear to be particularly forceful, but the man stumbled backward. Concerned, Gross peeked into the hallway, then walked out to see if the man was okay.
Grieco, his lawyer, said the man did not fall but hit a table in the hallway. "He suffered nothing but a bruise," Grieco said.
Because Gross is facing a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, he must be booked into a Miami-Dade jail. Prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges have worked for months to lower the population of the jails, which have been hard hit by the spread of the coronavirus.
Said Grieco: "The irony is that my client is now going to be placed in one of the most dangerous buildings in the county."
