SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - The family of the Southwest Miami-Dade couple who, police said, were ambushed by robbers at their home and tied up in front of their 5-year-old daughter said they are coming forward because they don’t want to see it happen to someone else.
7SkyForce hovered over the scene near Southwest 130th Avenue and 30th Street, Monday morning.
“That’s the reason why I came and spoke to you guys, because it could save someone’s life,” said Yuli Fernandez, the sister of the woman who was targeted.
According to Miami-Dade Police, the woman who was targeted was about to leave home to take her daughter to school, , just after 8 a.m., when the armed subjects, who had their faces covered, demanded that they go back inside.
“As soon as they opened the door, they forced them in. Two guys were waiting outside, hidden, and just took them inside the house at gunpoint, in their head, in front of my niece,” said Fernandez.
Police said the woman’s husband was still at the home when the subjects went inside.
“I don’t think that they knew that her husband was there, and then, once he saw what they were doing, he said, ‘Oh, I have a watch. Take this, take that,'” said Fernandez.
Detectives said the perpetrators tied up the couple.
“The wife and the husband were tied up. Thankfully, they did not touch the 5-year-old,” said MDPD spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta. “They kept her together with the mom.”
“They wanted diamonds and guns and stuff like that, but they really don’t have diamonds,” said Fernandez.
At some point, police said, the robbers turned on the husband.
“The father, in fact, was assaulted by these individuals. He was struck at least one time,” said Zabaleta.
“When they couldn’t find the watch, they beat him because of the watch, and in front of the little girl,” said Fernandez, “and my sister was just pleading to them, ‘Please, this is my daughter. If you have a daughter – don’t let her see that,’ when they were beating her husband.”
The family believes the men were spooked when the cleaners arrived at the home.
“My sister’s husband had to scream at them, ‘Don’t come in! Don’t come in!'” said Fernandez, “and I guess they got scared and left, because if not, who knows what they would have done.”
The subjects fled in the homeowners’ white SUV with valuables and an undisclosed amount of cash.
“When my sister felt that the guys were leaving, then she told my niece to stay in the closet, and then she went to check on her husband, and he was unconscious,” said Fernandez.
The husband later jumped over a wall to a neighbor’s house to seek help.
About 45 minutes later, police found the SUV abandoned in an alley two blocks west of the victims’ home.
Fernandez said neighbors may have seen the men scoping out the neighborhood hours earlier.
“The neighbors said that at 5 a.m., they were looking in their windows to next door, that they saw them in their camera,” she said, “so I guess they were, I guess, looking around to see what house to rob.”
Police are searching for surveillance video and seeking information from the public.
“These are images that are going to be hard for the 5-year-old to be able to erase from her memory, so that’s why we take this very seriously,” said Zabaleta.
“My sister is a wreck. She’s already very nervous, like, that’s just how she is,” said Fernandez, “so now, for sure she’s going to be traumatized to leave her house.”
If you have any information on this home invasion or the subjects’ whereabouts, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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