Miami Beach Police Arrest Hotel Burglary Suspect
MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – A man police say was caught on camera last month leaving the Miami Beach Resort and Spa with thousands of dollars in stolen goods is now in custody.
In addition to that burglary the suspect, 32-year old Dequan Johnson, has apparently been very busy. After he was picked up at the Aventura Mall, Johnson reportedly confessed during questioning to 14 burglaries of hotel rooms and apartments across South Florida.
"Once we got him in custody we were surprised that he was completely proud of his burglaries and took credit for 14 burglaries that took place in the City of Miami Beach, both hotels and apartments and he's also wanted in other jurisdictions," said Vivian Hernandez of Miami Beach Police.
His biggest haul, according to police, happened on June 8th at the Miami Beach Resort. Aparecida Pata and Denize Ferreira, who were visiting from Brazil, left their room to go have breakfast at the Hibiscus Court.
While they were out, Johnson allegedly entered the room while the housekeeper was there and told her it was his mother's room. He then left with all of the women's luggage containing $20,000 of designer clothes, jewelry and cash.
"He had different encounters with either maids or housekeepers," Hernandez said. "He would tell them, basically lie to them, that he was either staying in the room or the guests were relatives of him and complete disregard for whatever they had to tell him."
Surveillance cameras captured Johnson's alleged exit from the hotel. Miami Beach Police said they were surprised he owned up to crimes that hadn't even been tied to him.
"Sometimes when serial burglars do things like this they'll give us a hard time," Hernandez said. "He was proud of his accomplishments to say the least."
Johnson has been charged with eleven counts of Burglary and twelve counts of Grand Theft. Due to this arrest the following jurisdictions will be able to clear burglaries committed by the subject: Sunrise Police, Miami-Dade Police, Coral Gables Police, Sunny Isles Police and Palm Beach Sheriffs.
Miami Beach Police said that all total, Johnson allegedly took around $50,000 worth of merchandise that he admitted to selling. Detectives are working with pawn shops to see if they can recover any of the items.
