Apple River stabbing trial: Miu's 'best friend' testifies

Ernesto Torres Chaguez testified in the Apple River stabbing trial of Nicolae Miu.

Ernesto was tubing with the Miu group on July 30, 2022, and has known Miu for over 10 years, calling Miu his best friend. He considers Miu a handyman, noting he has used a pocket knife to fix things. He called Miu the day they went tubing to bring his pocket knife so they could cut the ropes that tie the tubes together once they got done tubing. Ernesto said he didn't have one, so he asked Miu to bring one because he knew he had one.

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[ralphcantrell]

GOOD GRIEF!! As an avid, life-long river runner, who often ran some river somewhere for up to 20 weekends a year for over 35 years so far, and did it in every craft imaginable from innertubes to 8-man rafts, and who owns 4 river tubes, 6 kayaks, and a small flat bottomed boat right now, I can tell you that serious river runners would NEVER go down a river without a knife. I have 4 river running life jackets right now that were made with a tab specifically for attaching a knife just like the one Mr. Miu possessed. CAN WE PLEASE GET OVER THE BENIGN FACT THAT HE WAS IN POSSESSION OF A RIVER KNIFE WHILE ON THE RIVER??

[shortie.]

I know plenty of people who carry a pocket knife. Especially, if they are “outdoorsy”.

[nancyvickers]

It is hard to believe not one person in snorkel guys group didn’t ask what was happening. That is not normal human behavior, especially amongst friends. There is always curiosity.

[loris]

Some of these people attacking this man were in their twenties. Gangs are allowed to run wild in this country today and attack people. They started it. He was in the river looking for a cell phone that had been dropped. They came up and started calling him names and then attacked him . They were holding his head under water, punching and kicking him while screeching like the drunken mob they were. He has a right to defend himself.

[frankwix]

My personal experience with shock is unbelievable
I worked for a propane company halling bottled gas
I was rearended by a police officer on a blood run to another hospital omplete white out
I was sent 100 yards into a cornfield
I broke my back
I crawled out of mytruck and stood up all the tanks tipped over and leaking
I then strapped the leaking tanls back to the bed of my truck
I got back in my destroyed vehicle and put my seat belt back on
With a broken back
It took 6 emts and firefighters to get me oit and to the ambulamce
My point is shock will make you do things you cant even explain
To saythat everyone in shock responds normal or the same is not true
Medically there are signs tjst can be observed every thing being witnesses are sayimg is shock

[yolandagofigure]

I'm not an American citizen.. but you guys all are. I highly suggest that you take this to your legislature.. dear future president.. the laws in your country need to be changed. Those young adults who were drunk and high should be also held accountable.

[freshuncut]

what is so special with carrying a pocketknive? almost everybody i know carries one everyday

[Laura-thf]

I would love to hear some of the parents views of these thugs who want to bully and humiliate people who are minding there own business, like seriously, these kids think they are privileged, this man was knocked into the water and surround by 13 yobs, i would be terrified.

[wildcard....]

Who gave alcohol to under age kids... alcohol heavily influences negative, bullyish mentality. No alcohol, maybe no problems.🤔

[leonreed]

Nick had nobody on his side in all this. A fifty some year old all by himself. It's sad what happened

[ringoramjet]

Every handyman and tradesmen carry pocket knives

[monisaldi]

The male translator gets a C minus ……. Translators should always score an A, this is a court proceeding.

[j.roberts]

He was trying to find his phone and the teenagers were obnoxious. It’s just a sad situation for everyone. Bless everyone and involved.

[rosenars]

I saw the video on Reddit, it’s probably gone by now but the kids were acting like a bunch of chihuahuas hopped up on white claws.

[tmc]

I'm so impressed with the coverage of this trial. Excellent.

[jdbrooks]

Approximately 40 years ago on the Apple River, as a 18 year old with 3 other friends, we confronted a guy and did actually antagonize him for maybe 2 minutes. We had no plans on attacking the guy - just verbal. He pulled out a knife - maybe 5" - 6" inches. We backed off and incident stopped. I think if we would have kept at it, we probably would have took the knife and stabbed him. Either way, it would have been an incident that would have affected our lives forever by death or prison. Thank god we backed off. It's a no win situation.

[jennyrangel]

As a Mexican who speaks spanish and english I'm very dissapointed with the translators... the woman is giving the answers and completing the questions and the man didn't translate everything, so the lawyer had to modify the questions or ask again to get the full answer.. that's why I think the jury can't get the whole story he's trying to convey

[ttp_]

The translation has a some inaccuracy, particularly at 13:29 where Ernesto’s final words to Nick were not “No, don’t go”. At 13:14, what Ernesto actually said to Nick was “forget about the phone”. While this may seem like a minor detail, the phrase “No, don’t go” conveys a strong command, whereas “forget about the phone” comes across as a casual suggestion.

Teens were high on drugs and alcohol, with lots of energy to spare, bullying got them quickly involved with verbal and physical. To me it was legitimate case of a self defense action driven by frustration, embarrassment and above all fear.

[melaniebest]

So they see that their friend get in an altercation, people are hurt and no one in his group thought is was a good idea to give a statement to the police 🤨

[shelhuff]

Nik went to help out his friend and was attacked by a drunken drugged frenzy. His reaction is warranted. I think he was in shock afterwards.