Teen Robbed In Broad Daylight In Front Of School
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Police are investigating an armed robbery of a teenage victim that happened in broad daylight in front of several witnesses.
Detectives said the 13-year-old boy was walking with friends after school on Wednesday, at the Sports Leadership and Management Academy on N.W. 12th Avenue and N.W. 6th Street.
Surveillance video shows the group of kids were closely followed by a man in a white hoodie and jeans, who eventually singled out one teen who was wearing jewelry and approached him.
"For a second, I thought it was a family member or a friend," the victim's friend and witness told CBS4's Donna Rapado.
He wasn't a friend at all, snatching the teen's gold necklace and then demanding the kid take off his bracelet, too. After a moment, the crook loses his patience and rips it off the victim's wrist.
The teen told police the crook threatened him with a gun inside his waistband.
"The guy said, 'Oh if you don't give me your bracelet, I'm gonna shoot you.' So he showed him a gun 'cause he was hiding it in his pants," the witness continued.
Another friend was also there.
"And then my friend was like, 'Oh my god'. He put his hands up and he had a gun," he said. "I was watching through the window. I didn't know what was happening and then when I saw that it was a robbery, I told them to go outside 'cause he was getting robbed."
The robbery took less than 20 seconds and happened in the middle of the day with cars driving by.
"Clearly he was able to get what he wanted and he was not patient. He did the entire crime within just seconds from when he initially saw these children," said Officer Kenia Fallat of Miami Police.
The suspect ran eastbound on N.W. 6th Street and crossed N.W. 12th Avenue and disappeared.
"We don't know if he was targeting this boy or what. But indeed, what he was out to get, he got," said Ofc. Fallat.
The school released a statement about the incident, in part saying:
"The student is unharmed. However, this incident is a good reminder that students need to be vigilant when they walk off campus. We encourage all our students to stay on campus when waiting to be picked up and to always stay in a group.
The safety and security of the children is of utmost importance to us and we take extra precautions to ensure the safety of our students. We have security on site during and after school hours and video surveillance."
Anyone with information is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471- TIPS (8477). Remember, you can remain anonymous and there's a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.
