HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - An immigrant teenager took refuge at an auto care business after she escaped custody from a South Florida immigrant detention center only to be captured by police.
The teenager hid inside Gonzalez Auto Center along North Flagler Avenue and Northeast First Road in Homestead on Friday.
The owner of Gonzalez Auto Center, Frank Gonzalez, said the 15-year-old was hiding in a corner in the shop.
“I was walking back there when she came,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t know she was here.”
Surveillance video recorded police officers searching for the teen in the auto bays and front office.
According to police, she ran from a van that was taking her to an eye doctor appointment. She is a current resident at the Homestead shelter for undocumented children.
Gonzalez told 7News that when he found her hiding, the girl was upset and called the shelter a jail.
He said he gave her water and contacted an advocate for undocumented children, but the police arrived first.
“We did everything we can,” Gonzalez said. “The police was already here. There was already in the back of the shop. They had undercover cops with different cars. My shop was surrounded with police. They knew she was here. They knew. They saw her running to the shop.”
He also said that he did not contact the police. “We never called the police,” Gonzalez said. “The police was searching for her, she was here. What can we do?”
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the shelters, has not commented on the specifics of this incident.
Gonzalez said he hopes the teen will be with her family soon. When she is reunited with her loved ones, he said he would like to help.
“If she needs a place to stay, or her mom or her father, I will give it to her,” Gonzalez said. “I will get her rent, I will get food for her, make it the American dream. I would do it. I would help them out.”
Gonzalez said that since the girl was found in his shop, his family has received death threats. He’s been accused of turning the teenager over to authorities, but he said that’s not what happened.
According to a report from the Miami Herald, at least 10 calls were received within a five minute period. The FBI is now investigating.
Gonzalez said he is now carrying a gun.
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