He literally brought a knife to a gun fight, according to St. Augustine police.
A Jacksonville man was arrested late last month after allegedly pulling a knife on a man and his wife in a dispute over a parking spot at Ripley’s Believe it or Not in St. Augustine.
The incident began around 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 28 as the couple waited in the attraction’s parking lot with their turn signal on as another vehicle backed out of a space.
As soon as the spot opened, the suspect, Joseph Del Castillo, 45, of Jacksonville allegedly swooped in and took it, the report states.
Bristling at the brazen breach of parking lot protocol, the victim got out of his car and told Del Castillo that he had been waiting for the space.
The driver responded that the spots were not assigned and refused to budge.
The victim returned to his vehicle and drove to the back of the lot to look for another space, papers state.
While the couple waited for a different car to leave, the suspect allegedly approached the driver’s side of their truck holding a pocketknife.
According to the report, he leaned against the driver’s door, crossed his arms and rested them on the window sill. He then commented about the victim’s tires costing $250 each and said he could cut them.
The victim told officers he saw the knife as the suspect turned and held it behind his back while walking away.
Both he and his wife told police that they were in fear for their lives.
The victim said he was so concerned about the suspect’s actions that he placed his hand on the firearm he legally carried inside his vehicle.
When officers arrived, Del Castillo — who later told investigators that he worked as an “engineer,” dropped the knife on the ground and refused to provide a statement, the report states.
He was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a felony.
