The Florida man who was caught on video asking a Utah man if he is gay and then punching him failed to show up for a court date on Friday, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Carlo Alazo, 22, faces three misdemeanors — one count of threatening to use a weapon in a fight and two counts of assault. Now he’s facing a $2,500 warrant for failure to appear at a scheduled 3rd District Court date on Friday.
An 8-second video of the incident in the early-morning hours of Feb. 17 went viral when the victim, Sal Trejo, posted it on Twitter. The video shows Alazo approaching Trejo and asking, “Are you gay, though?”
Trejo replies, “Oh, I am.”
“Oh, then you are gay,” Alazo says, and then he appears to hit Trejo, knocking the cell phone out of his hand.
Trejo and other witnesses told police Alazo had been using homophobic and racist slurs. According to a probable cause statement, after he punched Trejo, Alazo “pulled out a small, 'butterfly-type' knife and pointed the knife blade in Trejo's direction.”
According to a court document, Alazo called the court on Thursday and said that he had sent a motion via certified mail requesting a 90-day continuance because he lives in Tampa, Fla. The court had not received his request, and Alazo was advised to call back on Friday “once court is done.”
In the meantime, the judge issued a $2,500 warrant for his arrest.
According to Blake Nakamura, chief deputy at the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, the court will set a new court date at its convenience, not Alazo's. “And if he does show up, that'll clear the warrant.”
If Alazo fails to appear again, “I just can't tell you at this point if we'd go get him,” Nakamura said. Given that the charges are misdemeanors, it's “unlikely” prosecutors would have Florida police or federal marshals arrest and extradite him to Utah.
However, his name would be entered in the NCIC (National Crime Information Center), and if Alazo is stopped by police they will have the option of taking him into custody on the outstanding warrant.
