Crime & Safety
Miami Beach Burglar Rides Taxi to Work
Thieves made off with $146,500 in expensive jewelry from an area that has been home to celebrities like Jennifer Lopez.
MIAMI BEACH, FL — A transportation-challenged burglar took a taxi to work recently in an exclusive Miami Beach neighborhood that has been a favorite haunt over the years for celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Shaquille O'Neal and Gloria Estefan. Police said the burglar was caught on surveillance video entering swanky Hibiscus Island in a brightly colored taxi then meeting up with three accomplices. The thieves made off with $146,500 in expensive jewelry.
"One of the subjects was seen in the rear of a taxi," Ernesto Rodriguez of the Miami Beach Police Department told Patch on Thursday. "There's no video of the exit as of yet." (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Beach Patch.)
Police released surveillance video of the burglar riding in the backseat of Taxi 1117. The video was captured shortly before 9 a.m. on Jan. 20.
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The private island is so exclusive that it can only be accessed by land through a bridge off MacArthur Causeway that requires visitors to pass through a guard shack where security cameras collect video of everyone who enters.
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According to Miami Beach police, three of the burglars could be seen on video outside the single family home in the unit block of South Hibiscus Drive, where thieves stole multiple pieces of jewelry from three wall safes. The jewelry included a woman's rose gold Daytona Rolex watch valued at $30,000, two men's Deep Sea Rolex watches valued at $8,000 each and a $25,000 woman's wedding ring.
The resident of the single family home told police that she was working out at the time of the break-in and was not home.
"She discovered her bedroom ransacked when she came home at 11 ... from her workout," according to the police report. "She did not activate her alarm but did lock all the doors and windows.
Police said that the thieves hopped a gate to gain access to the home and pried open a kitchen window.
One of the suspects is described as a white male, 6 feet 4 inches tall, approximately 20 to 30 years of age and 200 pounds.
WATCH BURGLAR IN BACKSEAT ARRIVE BY TAXI
WATCH VIDEO OF SUSPECTS OUTSIDE HOME:
Image courtesy of Miami Beach Police Department
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