MIAMI (WSVN) - Detectives are searching for clues following a string of burglaries of several vehicles belonging to City of Miami firefighters in the parking lot of a fire station.
According to City of Miami Police, burglars broke into more than seven cars at City of Miami Fire Station 10, just off Northwest Seventh Street, before 6 a.m., Thursday.
“It’s unfortunate that we see these crimes already happening everywhere, but it hurts a little more when you see it’s a firefighter, and what they were doing was actually working,” Miami Police spokesperson Kenia Fallat said. “We don’t know if it happened while they were away from the station or while they were asleep.”
The firefighters realized their vehicles were burglarized when they walked to the parking lot to get into their personal cars, investigators said.
Miriam Castellanos, who lives near the fire station, said she is upset that this happened to the first responders, and she has gotten to know many of them over the past 31 years.
“In the morning when I wake up, I saw the crime scene,” she said. “‘Oh, my God,’ I think, ‘Oh, my God, what happened?'”
The crooks stole several valuables from the vehicles, police said, but they do not know exactly what was stolen because the victims are still doing an inventory of the items that might be missing.
“We’re still trying to compile the information of the items that were stolen from inside, but we can say that those firefighters inside that station were targeted,” Fallat said.
7News cameras captured investigators taking photographs of broken windows, dusting for fingerprints and collecting possible evidence, such as a hammer and crowbar, that was found in a yard on the other side of the fence.
Through the years, crooks have busted car windows at fire stations across South Florida.
“Angry, you know, because this is the people who are working for us, for everybody,” Castellanos said. “I feel bad. I want to cry.”
Detectives are going to nearby businesses to check if they have surveillance video that may have captured the break-ins.
If you have any information on these vehicle burglaries, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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