Hialeah Grocery Store Attack Over $4K Loan Ends in Attempted Murder Charge

A 34-year-old Florida City man is facing attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery charges after police say he pistol-whipped and then fired two shots at a man he had loaned $4,000 to buy a car, all outside a busy Hialeah supermarket. Carlos Alvarez allegedly called the victim and asked to meet him outside Sedano's Supermarket at 950 East Fourth Avenue on August 6, setting off a confrontation that investigators say ended with gunfire in the parking lot.

According to WPLG Local 10, the victim was on a video call with his girlfriend outside the store when Alvarez retrieved a handgun from his car, struck him in the face with it, and fired two shots as the man ran away, police said. His girlfriend reportedly witnessed part of the encounter through the live video stream. Police said Alvarez then fled the scene, though the victim waited briefly before leaving the supermarket himself, and Alvarez punched him again after returning to the scene, according to the outlet's reporting.

A Week-Long Delay Before the Report

The victim did not go to police right away. Instead, he waited seven days before giving a sworn statement at Hialeah Police Department headquarters at 5555 East Eighth Avenue on August 13, per the same account. Investigators say Alvarez had told the victim not to call police, according to the arrest report, which may help explain the gap between the attack and the formal report.

Once the victim came forward, detectives pulled surveillance video from the area near the supermarket, and that footage corroborated his sworn statement, according to an arrest report cited by the station. The evidence tied the alleged assault directly to the $4,000 loan Alvarez had given the victim to purchase a vehicle, according to HPD.

Arrest Made in Florida City

HPD's Major Crimes Unit tracked Alvarez down at his home in Florida City, at the southern tip of mainland Miami-Dade County roughly 40 to 45 miles — about an hour's drive via Florida's Turnpike — from the Hialeah crime scene, according to AbbyCar. Officers took him into custody there. When police first responded to the original 911 call outside Sedano's on August 6, both Alvarez and the victim had already left the scene, police said.

Alvarez is now being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, a facility that serves as Miami-Dade County's primary pre-trial intake and classification site with a capacity of roughly 1,300 beds, according to JailData.com. His bond had not yet been set as of August 26. The jail is part of the county's broader corrections system, which the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department has said ranks among the eighth-largest local jail systems in the country, managing an average daily population of more than 4,000 inmates across four main facilities.

What Alvarez Is Charged With

Alvarez faces charges of attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Under Florida Statute § 782.04 and the state's 10-20-Life law, attempted second-degree murder is reclassified as a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and it carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years if a firearm was discharged during the crime, according to the Florida Senate.

The aggravated battery charge carries its own weight. Under Florida Statute § 784.045, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in state prison, 15 years of probation, and a fine of up to $10,000, according to legal guidance published by the Online Sunshine statute database. Florida's 10-20-Life enhancements also mean that simply possessing a firearm during an aggravated battery triggers a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence, while actually discharging the weapon — which police allege happened here — raises that mandatory minimum to 20 years.

The confrontation played out at one of South Florida's most recognizable Hispanic grocery chains. Sedano's was founded in Hialeah in 1961 and has since grown into a regional chain with more than 30 stores across Florida, according to the Miami New Times. The exact nature of Alvarez's relationship with the victim, and what specifically set off the violence during their meeting, remains unclear.