Crooks Captured After Trying To Rob Cop's Home
SOUTH MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A pair of would be house burglars are cooling their heels behind bars after they were reportedly caught in the act by the homeowner. Seems they picked the wrong home because in this case the home they were allegedly tried to steal from belongs to a Miami Beach cop.
The officer "Alfred" was off duty and just pulled up in front of his home on SW 59th Street when he realized something was wrong.
"As soon as I stepped out of my car there were guys running out of my house," said Alfred, "Three guys running out of my house and getting in a van and attempting to flee."
Alfred said he did the only thing he could think of – he ran after them.
"I chased two of them," said Alfred. "One got inside somebody's backyard and the other one I chased down and apprehended myself."
All the while he was talking to South Miami police on the phone. When officers arrived they set up a perimeter.
"We observed the off duty Miami Beach police officer struggling with the guy, walking him down 58th Street," said South Miami police Major Renee Landon.
Alfred said during the chase and his take down he also had to field an important phone call.
"He was like 'Honey, I can't talk to you, they just broke into the house," said Alfred's wife Chastity.
"Yeah, she called in the middle of everything," said Alfred.
Arriving officers fanned out and went street by street looking for the remaining two burglary suspects. As a precaution, nearby South Miami Middle School was placed on lockdown; something thing that never happens there.
"Never," said student Natalie Diaz, "This was like the first one."
Within minutes, South Miami police found the second burglary suspect. He was hiding in a kayak.
"Pretty weird," said Jose Bedia who lives in the area. "That's not a good hiding space or anything. As he tried to get out, he apparently saw the dogs coming and knocked over the fence."
The third suspect got away in a burgundy colored car.
According to neighbors, the city has seen a small spike in car break-ins and home burglaries. Bedia said one of his neighbors was burglarized about a month ago.
But this time, the would-be bad guys picked the wrong place and the wrong time.
"It feels great," said Alfred, "Even though it was a bad situation, I like the way it ended."
"He got more action here than he does at work," said Chastity.
"Well put it this way. If I don't catch at least one of them, my co-workers, they'll never, they'll never let me live it down."
South Miami police said they're confident they'll be able to round up the third suspect soon. The City Manager said police have been training for this type of situation for months and today it paid off.
