MIAMI — Prosecutors on Monday added a second charge against Javier Lopez, the man accused of beating up a Republican canvasser in Hialeah, a case that has garnered national attention after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio claimed the attack was politically motivated.
The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, in a court hearing Monday, filed formal charges: aggravated battery with great bodily harm, and added an additional count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — because Lopez and another man allegedly sicced two German shepherd dogs on the canvasser.
Lopez, who did not appear in person, pleaded not guilty through his defense attorney. Lopez is being held in jail because he’s also accused of violating probation on two previous felony cases. The Miami-Dade public defender’s office, however, is challenging the violation because the Florida Department of Corrections mistakenly gave Lopez a letter saying he was no longer on probation.
