MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A man who came to South Florida for work was violently attacked in Miami Beach, and police said the assailant is no stranger to the law. Outraged city officials said the suspect never should have been out on the street in the first place.
Pit Gottschalk is now black and blue. Speaking with 7News on Sunday, the German sports journalist said he no longer feels safe.
“I have a lot of pain and some fear right now to walk at Miami Beach,” he said.
Gottschalk said he flew in to cover the FIFA Club World Cup, but on Friday night, he was attacked near 27th Street and Collins Avenue while walking back to his hotel.
“A strange guy appeared and stopped me and yelled at me, and I said, ‘Please, keep distance, I don’t want to talk to you,’” he said.
But the man refused to do as Gottschalk and, he said, the encounter quickly turned violent.
“I tried to run and to escape from the situation, and then he beat me two times — one fist hits me in the face, and the other one in the back.” he said.
A witness in a wheelchair helped Gottschalk. They called police.
Miami Beach Police officers were able to quickly catch and arrest the suspect. He was identified as 54-year Perry Smith.
Smith is known as a menace by Miami Beach officials, as well as a repeat offender.
In court Sunday morning, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Christine Hernandez recognized the suspect.
“Yes, I’m familiar with Mr. Smith,” she said.
The bond hearing did not go smoothly. Smith threatened Hernandez over the battery charge he is facing.
“A $1,000 bond,” said Hernandez.
“And you’re going to die a thousand deaths,” said Smith.
The suspect was taken out of court moments later.
“He should be removed. All right, Mr. Smith. Have a nice day,” said Hernandez.
Last year, Smith, who is also a registered sex offender, was arrested for an attempted strong-arm robbery against a woman in her 80s.
The elderly victim, Jo Manning, told 7News at the time that she was out on a walk near her home when Smith targeted her.
Smith also faced a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer from a struggle that was recorded by the officer’s body camera. He was let out of jail then.
Weeks later, while out on bond, Smith attacked a woman visiting out of the country, police said. That case was dropped.
In February, 7News reported on a “sweetheart plea deal” he got for Manning’s case from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, which included no trial and no jail time.
Manning had a warning back then.
“The prosecuting attorney I talked to beforehand, I said, ‘You’re going to have blood on your hands,’ and I truly believe that,” she said.
Miami Beach Commissioner Joseph Magazine also feared Smith would strike again.
“‘You’re going to be calling me again — whether it’s next week, next month or next year — that this person committed something else,’” he told 7News back in February.
7News reached out to Magazine again this weekend. He did not mince words.
“When is enough enough? When will the system going to correct?” he said.
Magazine said Miam Beach Police work to get suspects like Smith off the streets.
“They’re putting their lives on the line, just for our judiciary system to let these scumbags out of jail,” he said. “Did anybody think the outcome was going to be any different here?”
Gottschalk hopes that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“It’s the duty and the task of the city to keep him away from the streets so that he can’t attack people like me,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine that something like that could happen here in Miami Beach.”
As of Sunday night, Smith remains in jail on a $1,000 bond.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
