FBI Charges Miramar Man in Bank Robbery After Wild South Beach Trip

MIAMI BEACH — The FBI has charged a Miramar man and released a second person taken into custody with him in a wild bank robbery that ended with police responding to a possible bomb threat at one of the busiest streets on South Beach on Monday.

Enrique Antonio Gamez, 35, of Miramar, FL, was charged in connection with Monday's robbery at a Navy Federal Credit Union branch at 909 SE 1st Ave. in Miami.

Local 10 news reported that a dapper bandit in a suit could be seen on Facebook ranting about his plans to give away the money. "I'm going to surrender," he said on the video. "Once I give away this money to people who are poor."

By poor, he apparently was referring to one of the most tourist filled neighborhoods in South Beach — Ocean Drive, where a Pina Colada can cost $16.

Witnesss Martha Delong told the news crew that she saw a man standing on top of a car handing out money. "He handed out all the money, threw the bag up and said, 'by the way I just robbed a bank,'" she explained.

The car was parked on a sidewalk along Ocean Drive.

Shortly before 9:30 p..m. police announced that the Miami Police Department Bomb Squad had "rendered the vehicle involved safe" and that a two-block area along Ocean Drive would reopen to traffic.

The situation was still "fluid" as of 6:40 p.m., according to Ernesto Rodriguez of the Miami Beach Police Department. By 8:15 p.m. Miami Beach police said additional resources had arrived from FBI, ATF and the Miami Police Department.

The incident caused traffic to be disrupted between 8 Street and 10 Street along Ocean Drive, Rodriguez told Patch.

The street is one of the busiest in South Beach every day but particularly so during the annual tourist season which began around Thanksgiving. It is also the center of the Art Deco District.

Earlier on Monday a handful of people were also evacuated from the Jewish Community Center in Miami Beach in response to a bomb threat. The facility reopened shortly before 1 p.m.

In early December, police closed part of Ocean drive to traffic for about two hours as they investigated threats of a possible explosive.

Photos courtesy of Miami Beach Police Department