Robbery Victim Fires At Crime Spree Suspects in Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The owner of a Little Havana bakery was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday morning and Miami Police believe the suspects are connected to at least seven other robberies in the past 24 hours.
According to police, the business owner was opening Ela's Bakery Cafe, on 503 NW 12th Ave, when he was asked for the time by someone.
When he turned around, a man sitting in the front passenger side of a dark-colored, four-door sedan was pointing a gun at him. Another suspect got out of the car with a revolver and demanded the victim's money and car keys.
The victim handed over his wallet but not the car keys, because he told them he only had the keys to the bakery.
When the suspect began running back to the car, the victim pulled out a gun of his own and fired several shots at them, officers said.
Police do not know if any of the suspects were hit.
The suspects escaped in the car with possibly two more people inside.
"We do suspect that the same individuals are involved in other robberies today and maybe a few days back," said Miami Police spokesman Mike Vega. "We've had a couple of robberies throughout last night."
Vega said the string of robberies are suspected to have occurred in the Little Havana area to the Coral Way area and the suspects follow the same process.
They get out of their vehicle, described as a dark colored or silver sedan, commit the crimes in pairs only, always ask for the time and once the victim turns around, they pull out their weapons and demand money and jewelry.
"We can say from Little Havana to Flagami to the Coral Way area all within a few days," said Vega. "Most of the robberies have occurred during the night time."
The owner of a small cafe/market next to the bakery said a similar incident happened to her Monday morning, when one person walked in and tried to take the tip jar, but failed. She said the suspect jumped into a car with someone else driving off.
The woman said this is not the first time they have tried to steal from her business and described the area as dangerous.
Vega said they are still investigating all of the incidents to try and piece them together.
