11-Year-Old Burglar Caught On Tape
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (CBS4) - Less than a week after North Miami Beach Police arrested an 11-year-old who was breaking into cars outside of a Toys 'R Us, investigators have finally released the surveillance video showing the youth preparing for his crime.
"You can see he's walking around, casing the area," said North Miami Beach Police Director Tom Carney, as he watched surveillance video of someone in the parking lot of the Toys R Us on NW 167 Street and 6th Ave.
He looked like a real pro, skulking around the parking lot. What's strange about this one, is police said that "pro" is an 11 year old kid and the video shows him in action.
"This is the target vehicle," pointed out Carney as he watched the boy in action. "You can see he braces himself up against this car while he's looking in the window."
Later, police said, he breaks in – snatching cash and change. But police were watching as part of a sting operation and he was arrested and hauled into court.
That's when it was revealed he's been arrested for burglary before.
Police said just before breaking into this van, the kid tried a few others.
"He tried to get in to several other cars right around this particular car, even to the point where he took his shirt off and covered his hands so he wouldn't leave finger prints," Carney said.
Investigators believe the kid worked the area with a few other boys his age. Plus, the kids may have not only broken into cars, but homes as well. Unfortunately, police said, stuff like this is not uncommon during the summer.
"That's one of the problems when school's out is that crime goes up because these kids are out on the street with no parental guidance, they got nothing to do, so they're looking to get into trouble," Carney said.
