Yacov Levi, 50, faces felony charges after allegedly charging at people on a Surfside, Florida beach with a long drill and an umbrella while threatening to kill them. Surfside police arrested him following a confrontation captured on body camera footage. He made his first court appearance on Friday.
On Wednesday, Yacov Levi approached beachgoers behind a condominium on Collins Avenue in Surfside, Florida, north of Miami Beach. According to the arrest affidavit, he asked to use a beach chair but was refused because he did not live there. Levi became irate, grabbed a beach umbrella to strike someone, then seized a several-feet-long drill with a large sand-digging bit and charged at a man, yelling, 'I'm going to kill you.' Witnesses saw him running with the drill as one victim fled and he targeted another. Surfside Police Department officers responded to reports of a man with a drill attacking people. They found Levi sitting on a beach chair holding the drill and ordered him to the ground at Taser-point. Body camera footage, shared by local outlet WPLG, shows the arrest. Levi allegedly drilled into a chair, causing about $500 in damage, before being handcuffed. He faces charges of attempted aggravated battery, battery on a law enforcement officer, and misdemeanor criminal mischief. This marks another beach incident for Levi; in 2023, police arrested him for allegedly trying to steal a jet ski while naked, though that case was dropped.