Women In Little Haiti Neighborhood On Edge After Sexual Predator Attacks
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Women in one Little Haiti neighborhood are on alert after a sexual predator attacked two of their neighbors on Thursday.
On Friday afternoon, Miami Police went door to door in the area of Northwest 56th St and 4th Avenue passing out flyers of the suspect and offering advice to residents.
"Please keep your doors and gates locked," one officer told a resident. "We want you to be aware of this person and what has been happening."
Miami Police Officer and spokeswoman, Kiara Delva told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "We are concerned that he is out there and will victimize the next person. He is very persistent. And he had a weapon and we consider him armed and dangerous. We just hope that he will turn himself in or someone with information will come forward about him. We believe he is local. He has been known to walk the neighborhood."
CBS4 also spoke to one neighbor who actually saw the suspect.
"It's him," it's him," said Adriana Ortiz. "He did not attack me but I saw him when he put down his bicycle next to my apartment. I said what are you doing. This is terrible what he did. This is terrible. I would like to see him caught. It is bad."
According to investigators, the man tried to force a woman in her 20's into her home around 7 a.m. Thursday but didn't succeed.
About an hour later, he did make his way into another woman's home and sexually assaulted her. The woman said he was armed with a gun.
CBS4's Oralia Ortega spoke exclusively off camera with the stepmother of the woman who was raped.
She told her the suspect broke in while the mother was cleaning baby bottles and forced her into a back bedroom and raped her. It happened while the mother's 1 1/2 month old newborn boy was there along with two other children, a 3-year-old girl who was sleeping and a 13-year-old girl who was in the shower.
Detectives told the victim not to talk. The stepmother says the suspect threatened to kill the victim.
Residents who live in the area said the neighborhood is generally quiet and what happened was very scary.
Loren Ceballo, who is seven months pregnant, said police came knocking on her door at 9 a.m. Thursday.
"The officer asked me If I'd seen this guy dressed in blue with a hat and I was just like, you know I'm pregnant, he said well if you hear anything in the back let us know," she said.
Ceballo was so anxious after hearing what she put a string on her door attached to a bell to alert her if anyone tried to enter.
Police say they want to get this guy off the street soon.
"Obviously in broad daylight, he did not have a problem being seen when he attempted to victimize those people," said Delva. "We are considering him armed and dangerous."
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
There is a reward of up to $3,000.
