Hialeah Cleaning Woman Tied Up As Thieves Ransack Home
HIALEAH (CBSMiami) - Marta Luyo said it was encounter with criminals that she will never forget.
She had intended to clean a home a home on East 41st Street, but instead she was tied up by two men who had been burglarizing that home and were ransacking it for valuable items as Luyo arrived for work.
Hialeah Police Detective Eddie Rodriguez told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that Luyo walked in on a crime in progress at 8:20 a.m. on Friday.
"I walked in and I heard noises and I saw two men who were ransacking the house," Luyo said. "I came to clean the house. They must have been there all along. They took 40 dollars that I had and took my purse and my phone."
"They told me to stay quiet and not to tell anyone," said Luyo. "They came in through the rear, through a back door. Then while they were robbing the house, one of the guys got a phone call and I could heard him ask, 'are you done?' And the man said, we are done."
Luyo said she will not forget what the criminals were wearing.
"They were all covered up," she said. "They had yellow gloves. They wore yellow gloves and blue jeans. They had yellow construction boots. That's all I could see because they told me to close my eyes."
Neighbors said the family that owns the home is in Cuba, visiting relatives.
Their daughter said she had a theory about the burglars.
"It's somebody that knew that there wasn't going to be anyone at home because they know she goes in and out of the house constantly," said Dalia Hernandez, the daughter of the owners of the home.
"If they don't punish these criminals," she said, "this will be the same problem every day in Hialeah."
"Anyone who will take advantage of an innocent woman who was doing her job are criminals," said Detective Rordiguez. "We need to get these persons off the street. That's where we need the public's help. Anyone who may have seen these two men, sitting down somewhere, having a cup of coffee or breakfast this morning should call Hialeah Police."
"That's what is important here is the color of the clothing of what these men were wearing," said Rodriguez. "We know they gave their commands in Spanish and they are Latin males."
It's not know what items were stolen from the home as an inventory had not been done. From a tour of the ransacked home, it appeared that jewelry and a flat-screen TV were stolen.
Hialeah Police were trying to find out if any surveillance tape was available from neighbors. But so far, no such tape has been discovered.
If anybody knows anything about the burglary, they are asked to call the Hialeah Police Department or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
