Exclusive: Surveillance Tape Shows Tractor Trailer Thieves Victimizing Doral Business For 2nd Time
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DORAL (CBSMiami) – New surveillance tape obtained exclusively by CBS4 shows thieves victimizing a well-known flower importer in Doral for the second time in less than three months.
"It's just hard to believe and disgusting this has happened," says company co-owner Anthony Ardisson in an interview with CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "I am totally disgusted. This is hard to believe that they come back again. I've always been under the impression that once it happens they don't come back to the same place."
The surveillance tape shows a grey Suburban driving by the tractor trailer at 12:50 a.m. at Esprit Miami at 11475 NW 39th St. A man wearing a baseball cap is seen getting out of the tractor trailer with a flashlight. You also see an image of a second man beside him. Ardisson believes they initially drove up in the Suburban.
Ardisson says Esprit Miami has been in business for 37 years and is known nationally and imports flowers worldwide. On June 1st at 2 a.m., thieves stole two tractor trailers from his business. They are worth about $100,000. He says two of the tractors were discovered in a deserted area in Medley and one of the trailers was also located in Miami-Dade.
As Ardisson was speaking with CBS4, he learned that his trailer stolen earlier in the day had been recovered near southwest 135th Ave. and 248th St. in Southwest Miami-Dade. However, the $30,000 tractor and the $26,000 refrigeration unit were still missing.
He says the thieves hotwired his tractor trailers in order to steal them.
"I was told by police that this activity is happening all over," says Ardisson. "I was told that people make a living doing this. They take the tractor trailer and disassemble it and then they usually dump the trailer and then they take the tractor and the refrigeration units.
"These people were not hiding themselves. I don't think they even cared that there was a camera. You seen one man entering the cab and a few minutes later you see it start and you see him leave. It was at least three people since there was someone in another vehicle that pulled up. We are trying to get more surveillance tape of them. They need to be put away longer when they are caught, not just a couple of months because when they get out they figure let's do it again.
"They seem to scope you out. We're a business that does not have set hours. We depend on product from South America that comes in at odd hours on flights so we are not a 9 to 5 business.
"What I would advise for everyone who has a business and who has trucks, make sure you get cameras and get a device that will enable you to track your trucks but keep them hidden. They know what to do. If you have a simple GPS device on it, they can get rid of it within minutes."
Surveillance tape shows they were at the business for 20 minutes.
"These suspects took their time," Ardisson said.
It's believed the suspects are Hispanic, in their 40s, with a medium build and about 5'8" to 5'9". The company has given Doral Police its surveillance tape.
Anyone with information that can help police should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).