Palm Coast Man, 55, Accused of Propositioning a Woman then Stabbing her and Her Boyfriend When She Said No

The alleged victims were a woman, 48, and her boyfriend, 58.

The woman, an employee of the nearby bowling alley, showed deputies a stab wound on her right arm before she was tended to by paramedics and transported to AdventHealth Palm Coast. She told a sheriff’s deputy that Laso had been harassing her for the past few months at work, and had allegedly offered her $5,000 in exchange of sexual favors, an offer the woman declined.

She then ran into Laso when she was at Smiles with her boyfriend and others. Her boyfriend, she told deputies, confronted Laso outside the establishment. Laso called the woman misogynistic names. A violent confrontation escalated between the two men. The woman tried to get between them to separate them, at which point, she said, Laso took out a knife and said: “I have a knife and will cut you.” By the time she separated herself from the altercation he’d allegedly landed a cut on her arm. She went back inside to call for help. Patrons rushed out and stopped Laso from getting on his motorcycle. Witnesses would later tell deputies that he was still holding the knife and only threw it as deputies began arriving.




The woman’s boyfriend “had sustained multiple stab wounds to his arms, stomach and back.” He told deputies that when he confronted Laso, he was wanting clarification on whether Laso had propositioned his girlfriend, and that Laso allegedly threw the first slap.

Laso had been placed in a patrol car while others were interviewed. When deputies brought him out, Laso asked them to examine his face. There were no noticeable injuries, according to his arrest report. He told deputies that he had been drinking in the bar and speaking with the woman’s boyfriend, who was upset that he’d propositioned the woman for sex. He said he took out his knife after the confrontation escalated outside and “they attacked me.” He said he didn’t try to stab them, but that he was being chased in the parking lot and that his motorcycle had been knocked over. A deputy concluded that the motorcycle was knocked over by patrons trying to prevent him from leaving.

A witness told deputies a somewhat different account. He saw three people walk outside the bar. One of them walked back in. Minutes later, the woman walked back in and said she’d been stabbed, prompting her boyfriend to go outside, along with other patrons, who attempted to calm the situation down. The witness insisted to deputies that the woman’s boyfriend had walked back inside the bar without injuries before going back outside after his girlfriend was stabbed.

The bar’s cameras were not working, deputies reported.

“This case could easily have turned into something much more tragic,” Sheriff Staly said. “Alcohol, arguing and weapons are a recipe for disaster. Thankfully the injuries the victims sustained do not appear life-threatening and we hope they can make a full recovery.”