JSO releases bodycam of knife attack at construction zone that led to police chase, officer shooting

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has released the body-cam footage worn by officers who were involved in the arrest of a man who committed a late-night random stabbing attack on Nov. 19.

The incident, which took place at a construction site at I-295 and North Main Street, began when a construction worker directing traffic said he tried to wave a car down, but the driver asked him something he couldn’t understand. The worker told the driver to move on, and the driver said something else that he couldn’t understand, then opened his car door and removed something from under the driver’s seat.

Police said the man, who was later identified as Benjamin Kubi, 39, then stabbed the construction worker with a long, thin knife in his right inner arm/bicep area near his brachial artery.

Cellphone footage in the video explaining the incident shows Sgt. Ralaska Hoover approached a person, who can be heard saying, “He just stabbed him,” before getting back in her police car and chasing after Kubi.

The worker needed stitches and was treated at UF Health, but was not critically injured.

“On Nov. 19, 2024, at 10:40 p.m., the supervisor of the construction site reported to Sgt. Hoover that a man in a car, later identified as Kubi, had just driven through the construction site, exited his vehicle, and stabbed one of the workers,”

Kubi eventually pulled over along Duval Station Road and Hoover got out of her car, and gave Kubi “loud, verbal commands.” Hoover’s body-cam footage shows her yelling for Kubi to put his hands down before attempting to tase Kubi, who continued to walk toward the officers before Robinson ultimately had to use his gun to subdue him.

“He has a knife!” Robinson yelled as Hoover was tasing Kubi.

On the body-cam worn by Robinson, the footage shows Kubi actively chasing Hoover with a knife in his hand before Robinson could fire off shots and take Kubi down.

Robinson then immediately made sure Hoover was okay and called the incident into the station.

The entire encounter, from the time Kubi got out of the car to the shots fired, was roughly 12 seconds.

“She had to actually retreat from him because he was chasing her before he went down from the gunshot wounds. It was a pretty scary situation for both of the sergeants,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said.

Kubi was taken to the hospital in critical condition and was treated at UF Health for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Neither sergeant was injured.

“When we respond to something that is either deadly toward a civilian or us, we are going to take action, and you are ultimately going to lose,” Waters said. “Don’t do these kinds of things, and we will not have these issues.”

Hoover has been with JSO for 16 years, and Robinson, who was first hired as a corrections officer, has served with the department for 15 years, Parker said.

This was the first officer-involved shooting for both, and marks the eighth officer-involved shooting for JSO this year.

Kubi has been charged with attempted murder, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, and fleeing from a law enforcement officer.

This was not Kubi’s first encounter with law enforcement. Last month, police say, he threatened an officer, and in 2019 he was arrested on domestic battery charges.