3 suspects facing charges after crime spree of robberies, abductions in Miami-Dade, police say
MIAMI --Investigators with the Miami-Dade Police Department are asking for the public's help to find anyone who may have been targeted by two men and a woman accused in a string of crimes including robberies and abductions in the Little Havana area.
The theft of a case of beer from a Navarro grocery store that was caught on camera helped police identify and arrest the suspects.
Police said in a written statement Thursday that Jesus Carbonell, 51, and Zdenek Jelen, 49, were arrested in connection with crimes that began Oct. 26 and stretched to Oct. 30. The charges include kidnapping, robbery and battery.
The alleged crime spree included a cell phone theft, forced abductions in which victims were forced to withdraw money from cash machines at gunpoint and an alleged hit and run of a bicyclist.
According to police, the crime spree began with reported incidents that include:
- The robbery of a motorist whose vehicle had stopped running on Oct. 26 when he was approached by one of the suspects and an unidentified woman. The victim's cellphone was snatched and the pair demanded money for its return.
- The theft of eight cases of beer on Oct. 28 from a supermarket located at 3015 NW 7 St. Police said a group of workers from Navarro followed the two suspects as they put cases of beer into the SUV. The Miami Herald reported that one of the store workers ran to the vehicle and removed a shirt that was obscuring the vehicle's license plate, which was captured on cell phone video. Before the beer theft, the SUV was involved with a hit-and-run crash that left a bicyclist with a fractured leg, according to reports.
- A man walking home from a party in the area of SW 18th Avenue and 2nd Street on Oct. 29 was confronted by one of the suspects who had been in a dark green Chevy Tahoe. The armed suspect allegedly forced the victim inside the SUV and took the victim's cell phone and bank card. The two suspects drove the victim to an ATM and forced him to withdraw money before they let him go near 19th Avenue, officials said.
- One of the suspects pretended to be a police officer and forced the man to get into the Tahoe SUV, where the suspect and an unidentified woman allegedly robbed him of cash, his cell phone and bank cards. The suspects used the man's credit cards while keeping him in the vehicle, police said.
Police did not say if they knew why the victims were targeted or if any other suspects were wanted in connection with the crimes.
The Herald reported that a woman named Jennifer Montenegro, 33, allegedly participated in at least one of the robberies.
Authorities asked anyone who may have been a victim to call detectives at 305-603-6370.