Stabbing over workout machine at LA Fitness lands man in jail

AUSTIN, Texas - A man is in jail after stabbing another man allegedly over a workout machine. It happened on Friday, Feb. 16, at a gym in North Austin.

"If you’re going to come to a public gym, it’s going to take some patience," LA Fitness member Andrew Puno said.

For one gym goer, apparently his patience ran out.

"We live in some crazy times, I suppose," Puno said.

Court records said on Friday, a man was at the LA Fitness in North Austin at a little after 11 a.m. He said he wanted to use the leg press machine, but someone else was using it. The man on the machine told him to go do something else.

"There are signs posted that say somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes per equipment use, so if people are following those rules, then you shouldn’t have anyone get that impatient," Puno said.

Court documents said the man just waited until the other man was done using it. When the machine was open, he finished his workout and went into the locker room. He said the man who was first on the machine started yelling at him. Next thing he knew, he said he felt blood coming down his leg. 69-year-old John Makinson had stabbed him in the buttocks with a knife and was chasing him around the bathroom with it. 

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A staff member told the victim to go to the front where people gathered around him to protect him from Makinson who was still yelling, "Who else wants some?" A Good Samaritan was able to calm Makinson down and get him away from the victim.

"You don’t expect that you’re going to go have a workout and someone to be stabbed," Puno said.

The victim was taken to the hospital and stapled up. The wound was deep enough it almost went to the muscle.

Makinson was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He told officers, "I just got out of prison for this." His criminal record shows he did. Makinson was convicted of the same charge about 11 years ago.

Makinson is being held in the Travis County Jail on $50,000 bond.