NORTH AUSTIN, TX – A gym dispute escalated into a dangerous stabbing incident last Friday at LA Fitness on West Anderson Lane in North Austin. A 69-year-old man was indicted on charges of aggravated assault following the incident, which left another gym member injured.
According to an arrest affidavit, the accused, John David Makinson, allegedly stabbed another patron in the buttocks during an altercation at the gym. The victim, whose identity remains undisclosed, recounted approaching Makinson as he was using the leg press. Met with a suggestion to use another machine, the victim waited for Makinson to leave the area before using the equipment.
The subsequent encounter, the victim alleges, resulted in Makinson yelling obscenities and eventually stabbing the victim with a knife similar to a pocketknife. After managing to escape an attack in the bathroom, the victim sought aid from the gym’s management.
The affidavit discloses details of Makinson flaunting the knife before other gym members, posing the question, “Who else wants some?” A quick-thinking bystander intervened, preventing further harm before the authorities arrived. Makinson had left the scene by this point.
The deeply penetrated stab wound- 3 to 4 inches deep, nearly reaching the muscle tissue- compelled the victim to undergo a blood transfusion due to severity. The weapon involved in the crime was discovered by the police in the proximity of 1912 West Anderson Lane, a nearby parking lot to the gym.
Makinson had previously served a 10-year prison sentence for a 2012 conviction on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. During his arrest, he told the officers, “I just got out of prison for this.” He is currently held at the Travis County Jail with a set bond of $50,000.
So far, LA Fitness has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.