Bodycam footage shows takedown of ax-wielding man accused of chasing down woman, yelling racial slur

    MIAMI BEACH, Florida (WSVN) -- A Texas man was arrested after, police said, he chased down a woman through the streets of Miami Beach while holding an ax and yelling a racial slur.

The incident took place on Collins Avenue, near 10th Street, in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon.

The alleged ax attack was thwarted by fast-arriving Miami Beach Police officers after witnesses notified them of what was happening.

Body camera footage obtained exclusively by 7News shows the officers speaking to the witnesses and ultimately taking down the suspect.

“We actually were the ones that called,” said a witness. “We saw him get [the ax] out of the back of the pickup truck up here.”

Witnesses said a woman told them she was chased by the suspect, later identified as John Harper of El Lago, Texas.

“I was just taking pictures of the whole thing. I’ve got pictures of the whole thing,” a witness told responding officers.

Investigators said the victim, who’s not seen in the footage, told officers “she observed a white male walking eastbound screaming the [N-word].” When she confronted him and yelled for him to stop, she said he “picked up an axe from the truck bed and began to walk fast towards her as he was swinging the axe and screaming at her.”

“This was a very brazen and dangerous individual,” said Miami Beach Police Officer Christopher Bess.

When officers arrived, witnesses explained what happened and where Harper had gone.

“He came running down the sidewalk,” said a witness.

“A lot of witnesses and passersby, they were in fear for their lives as well,” said Bess.

“With it up over his shoulder. When he heard you guys coming, he dropped it and then took off running,” said a witness.

After searching for a few minutes, officers made contact with the ax.

“Dropped the ax over there in the street.” said an officer.

“Over here! There’s an ax on the floor!” said another officer.

And then, thanks to the Miami Beach Police Department’s ATV Unit, they caught and cuffed Harper within minutes of him leaving the scene.

“Luckily, our ATV unit was in the area,” said Bess.

“One subject detained,” said an officer on the bodycam footage.

After the incident had cleared, a witness talked to the officer about the wild afternoon on South Beach.

“You know, it’s funny. Somebody just told me, they said, ‘It gets a little crazy at night,’ but I didn’t expect to have somebody welding an ax coming down the road,” said a witness.

Miami Beach Police officers would learn it isn’t Harper’s first time behind bars.

“Hey, you say you’re out on bond for what, an assault?” said an officer.

“Yeah,” said Harper.

In January, according to City of Miami Police, Harper attacked and struck a woman with a forearm-strengthening exercise device in downtown Miami before being arrested. The incident was recorded on cellphone video.

But after bonding out, he decided to allegedly grab onto a bigger and deadlier weaponry.

Harper is facing a new charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on top of his other charges of aggravated battery and other offenses. He remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade.