As was his daily routine, Fr. Matt Marino headed to one of his favorite St. Augustine haunts Wednesday morning to grab a hot cup of coffee.
The Juniper Market had not yet opened, and Marino was seated at a table outside the San Marco Ave. business with a friend.
Out of nowhere, a woman on a bicycle rode directly towards the unsuspecting Trinity Parish St. Augustine rector.
She had a large steak knife in her hand, sources told The Citizen.
In an instant, she dismounted and stabbed Marino, who tried to shield himself before falling to the ground.
The suspect — described as a petite woman — pedaled away.
“He was like stone cold flat on the floor,” said Theo Glory, owner of the Coffee Realty Cafe, directly across the street. “The Good Samaritans around him put a jacket on him and waited for the emergency vehicles. Within minutes, we had six, seven police cars, fire trucks. And they did their job.”
Glory said he was inside his business having coffee and chatting with some regulars when the commotion erupted.
Police said Marino, who is conscious and in stable condition was stabbed just under his collarbone.
As Marino was transported in an ambulance, St. Augustine Police sent out a photo of the suspect based on witness accounts, along with screenshots from surveillance footage showing a woman riding a bicycle through downtown St. Augustine.
Arieana Gibbs, 22, was taken into custody roughly two hours later and is now facing an attempted murder charge.
St. Augustine police later learned that she grabbed a McDonald’s employee by the arm and pulled out the knife earlier that morning.
She’s now being held without bond in the St. Johns County Jail.
Gibbs has prior arrests, including an August bust for throwing a can of yams at a former boyfriend. She was hit with a 28 day jail term last month but was sprung on time served.
Carlina Gibbs, who said she’s the suspect’s sister in a Facebook post, wrote that her sibling is “mentally unstable” after a troubled upbringing but is not “pure evil.”
In a statement, The Episcopal Diocese of Florida thanked local emergency workers for assisting Marino.
“Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the skilled work of the paramedics and law enforcement officers who cared for Fr. Matt, and for the doctors and nurses who are currently caring for him,” the statement reads. “We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available. Please keep Fr. Matt, his family, and the entire Trinity St. Augustine community in your prayers.”
