Police arrest man, 72, in west Miami-Dade LA Fitness stabbing; they say it was over a chair

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police arrested a 72-year-old retiree after they said he stabbed another man in a gym locker room Thursday — apparently, it all stemmed from the victim’s use of a chair.

The incident happened just after 8 a.m. at the LA Fitness at 14100 SW Eighth St. near the Tamiami area.

According to an arrest report, the victim told police that he had just gotten out of the shower when Stephen Bussert approached him, seemingly “upset with him over using a chair in the shower area.”

Bussert, of west Miami-Dade, aggressively approached the victim, who told Bussert that he would “defend” himself, according to police.

Police said Bussert began striking the victim, who was able to subdue Bussert. The report states that the victim realized he had been stabbed in the abdomen during the tussle.

LA Fitness employees told police that they entered the locker room and found the nude victim holding down a clothed Bussert “while holding a knife out of reach,” the report states.

The employees removed the knife from both men and called police. A witness would later tell police he saw Bussert holding the knife in his hand before the stabbing.

Authorities took Bussert into custody on a charge of first-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm.

He was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $7,500 bond as of Friday afternoon.