Hialeah Police Fire On Burglary Suspect
HIALEAH (CBS4) - A man is recovering in the hospital after a Hialeah police officer shot him early Wednesday morning.
Police said he was trying to break into a marine supply and repair shop called B and R Marine at 1040 East 26th Street. A neighbor called 911 when that person saw or heard the man breaching the fence in front of the business. When officers showed up chaos broke out in the area that is a mix of industrial businesses and residential homes.
Mirtala Jimenez woke up suddenly to the sounds of gunshots, and car crashes right in front of her house. She told CBS4's Natalia Zea, in Spanish, that it's hard to for someone to deal with that kind of violence and that she was afraid to leave her house.
Once the bullets stopped flying she learned that police officers were the ones shooting.
After police confronted the attempted burglar, they say he jumped in his truck and tried to escape. At least two officers opened fire on him. At some point the man crashed into three vehicles and ended up head on with one of them. Police said at least one of their bullets hit him. He was reportedly shot in the neck. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where police say he is stable.
Jimenez said some of those bullets ended up in her son's truck and even in the wall in front of her house. She's still shaken.
She told Zea that police have to save their own lives but once she heard the gunfire she feared for her neighbors, and there could have been children.
"It's a scary thing, we regret that this has to happen but what we tell them is we got the bad guy. He's off the street. We definitely, we want to get somebody into custody without resistance, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way," said police spokesman Officer Carl Zogby.
The owner of B and R Marine told police he believes the truck belongs to a regular customer of his who has a boat at his shop. He said he's had no issues with him and doesn't know why the man would target his business.
At this point police are not releasing details on the shooting itself- including whether the man had a gun of his own, or used his truck as a weapon.
