MIAMI (WSVN) - Authorities said the suspects seen on surveillance video stealing expensive boat equipment in Pompano Beach are the same people who were arrested in Miami after deputies followed them from Broward County.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, Davis Giannone, the owner of Complete Marine along South Federal Highway, showed the space where the stolen GPS mapping units were once located.
“As you can see, there’s two Garmin units that are missing from the dashboard,” he said.
The GPS units, which sell for thousands of dollars, were stolen from a boat early Thursday morning.
Surveillance video exclusively obtained by 7News captured the perpetrators.
Giannone said a security guard spotted them soon after.
“At that point, he called 911. I believe he identified the car,” he said.
“Two males got into the boat and stole something from the boat,” a 911 dispatcher said in radio transmissions.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies tried to stop the suspects, but they said they refused to stop.
Because they apparently wouldn’t stop, deputies followed them into Miami-Dade County. Other law enforcement agencies eventually became involved.
Investigators said the trio bailed out and took off running in the area of Northwest 32nd Street and 24th Avenue in Miami.
Police used a helicopter and searched for the suspected thieves. Officers armed with long guns and K-9 units were seen combing through a residential neighborhood, ultimately capturing and arresting the suspected thieves.
Live video footage showed a silver 2018 Mercedes-Benz sedan, believed to be the subjects’ car.
For residents in the neighborhood, the large police presence was a shock to them. A boy in the neighborhood said he was sleeping when the incident unfolded.
“The police knocked on the door and they said, ‘Where’s the bad guys?’ And my sister and my brother said, ‘I don’t know,'” the boy said. “He said not to look at this. ‘This is so scary.'”
The men were later identified as 20-year-old Hansen Hernandez, 20-year-old Alexis Ruiz and 19-year-old Carlos Socorro. It is unclear what charges they will face.
As for Giannone, he said he is not only dealing with the loss of the equipment, but the damage keft behind as well.
“The problem is, when they take these units, they actually cut the wiring behind the units to remove them quickly instead of unplugging them, which causes extensive damage to the wiring of the boat,” he said. “It’s happened to a lot of different marinas around the area and behind residential homes, so we’re very pleased that they actually got this ring.”
Giannone said the owner of the boat that was targeted, who is not a local resident, has been made aware of the theft.
Back in August, 10 people in Monroe County were also arrested for stealing GPS units in boats. The equipment in those thefts were valued in the millions of dollars.
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