On March 31, Mexican actor Pablo Lyle punched fellow motorist Juan Ricardo Hernández in a road rage incident in Miami. Initially, Lyle was arrested on felony battery charges and released on a $5,000 bond, while Hernández, 63, was hospitalized. Four days later, Juan Ricardo, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, died. And on Monday, Lyle was ordered to post a $50,000 bond. Prosecutors are now considering charging him with either manslaughter or second-degree murder.
According to his lawyers, Lyle – a 32-year-old telenovela actor from Mazatlán, Sinaloa – only punched the man to protect his family. “This was about a peaceful man protecting his family,” defense attorney Phil Reizenstein said. “They were assaulted and attacked without warning or provocation.”
In the arrest affidavit, Lyle stated that he and his brother-in-law were afraid after Hernández got out of his car at a stoplight. Lyle’s brother-in-law had cut him off, so Hernández walked up to the driver’s side and pounded the window. The man got out and said, “Don’t bang on my window.”
When the car began to roll away, Lyle’s brother-in-law ran back to the car and Hernández heads back toward his car, all of which is captured on camera. Lyle then runs out of the passenger seat toward Hernández, who he punched in the head. The red car the actor and his family were in makes a U-turn, leaving Hernández lying on the floor.
His other lawyer, Bruce Lehr, that though Hernández was heading back to his car, Lyle didn’t know if he was going to get a weapon.
“The deceased, who had been violently trying to break the driver’s side window, was running back to his car,” Lehr said. “For what? A club? For a knife? For a gun?”
After the March 31 incident, Lyle – who his lawyers said was fired from a movie project last week – traveled to Mexico. But given the new developments in the case, he was due back in court on Monday. Assistant state attorney Genevieve Valle requested a $1 million bail. “We need to protect the community,” Valle said. “The defendant left the victim lying on the street.” 11th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Alan Fine set Lyle’s bond at $50,000 and ordered house arrest for him.
The telenovela actor must stay in Miami until at least May 1, which is when the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office will announce if there are any new charges.