Miami – Police in Miami-Dade County have arrested two men in connection with a December 4 jewellery store robbery that involved a steel cable and a stolen tow truck.
The suspects entered the store, C4G Jewelers, by punching a hole in the wall of a neighbouring building and dismantling the jeweller’s alarm system, the Jewelers’ Security Alliance said in a recent alert.
“It looks like they brought in a device to cut off the signals,” Adrianna Prieto of C4G Jewelers said in an interview with Local 10 News.
After ransacking the store, the thieves attached a hook and steel cable to the store’s safe and pulled it through the front door using a stolen tow truck, the JSA said.
The owner of the tow truck had installed a GPS device on the vehicle and alerted police to its location.
When police arrived at the location, a warehouse near Hialeah Gardens, on December 5, they saw the truck backing into a garage.
Four men ran away, but police apprehended and arrested two of them, Ariel Hernandez and Michel Avila Delanuez, who was taken to a local hospital, according to JSA.
In an Instagram post, C4G Jewelers said, “It is during difficult moments that the true measure of support and loyalty shines the brightest. Familia, we sincerely appreciate your presence and unwavering support during these difficult times.”
There have been five other recent similar cases in South Florida where thieves have used flatbed or tow trucks to remove or attempt to remove safes from jewellery stores, the JSA said.
Store owners have valued the contents of the safes at approximately $1 million. Local reports have not indicated whether the safe has been found.