HAINES CITY, Fla. (WFLA) – An elderly man was picking up his prescription eyeglasses when he was stabbed in a random attack outside a doctor’s office in Haines City in broad daylight Friday afternoon.
Carlos Manuel Goitia, 79, of Haines City, was a patient at MyEyeDoctor on Patterson Road.
He was in the same parking lot at the same time as Christopher Lynn King, 32, who had arrived on his bicycle, according to police.
“It’s random, it’s brazen,” said Haines City Police Chief Jim Elensky.
Employees at the doctor’s office say they are traumatized by what they saw.
“He rolled up on his bicycle, stole the victim’s vehicle after stabbing him multiple times and now he’s going back to prison,” Chief Elensky said.
King fled in Goitia’s vehicle.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies located King and used a PIT maneuver to get him off on the road on FDC Grove Road. King put up a fight but was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, Goitia fought for his life for several days in the hospital before passing away Sunday.
“He suffered several heart attacks in the hospital and that’s absolutely a horrific death, a horrific death,” Chief Elensky said.
Florida Department of Corrections records shows King has served two prison sentences in the last 10 years.
In 2012, he served seven months for burglary and grand theft of a motor vehicle charges out of Clay County.
He spent much of last year in prison on burglary charges out of Hardee County.
“It’s not appropriate for television on what I feel about this suspect,” Chief Elensky said.
King is being held on no bond on multiple charges. Police intend to upgrade his most serious charge to first-degree murder following Goitia’s death.