MIAMI (WSVN) - A Little Havana woman is hoping surveillance video will help police catch the two crooks who took off in her brand-new Mercedes-Benz — at least until she activated an app that shut off the SUV’s engine.
Sabrina Peixoto’s doorbell surveillance cameras rolled as she and her boyfriend chased after her 2019 GLA as the thieves backed out of her driveway, on Nov. 18.
“You see two people in the car, and I literally screamed, ‘There’s someone in my car! And we both come running outside,” she said.
Peixoto said the duo must have been waiting in the bushes before they made their move.
She said it all started at around 11:30 p.m., when she received a notification on her cellphone that her headlights were on.
“My boyfriend had just driven my car, so I thought that he had turned them on or something like that,” said Peixoto.
But as the security footage shows, within seconds, the couple realized something was very wrong.’
Peixoto said the thieves then took off in her ride.
“My first instinct is to run out and stop them from taking the car,” he said.
Peixoto said the crooks slammed into two of her neighbors’ cars as they made their getaway.
“Basically put that up on the sidewalk, and then they went down,” said Peixoto
But they wouldn’t get far, thanks to Peixoto’s quick-thinking father and modern technology.
“I immediately called my dad, and he was like, ‘Shut off the engine on your app,’ which I did,” she said.
The crooks ditched the GLA a few blocks away. Peixoto said they caused about $10,000 worth of damage.
“There’s a hole in the door,” she is heard saying on cellphone video of the damaged vehicle.
No one was seriously hurt.
Peixoto said this wasn’t the last time the men have targeted her neighborhood. Her neighbor’s Ring cameras caught the same subjects going around trying to get into cars earlier this week.
“I mean, they’re pretty ballsy, if you ask me,” she said.
Now she’s asking for help tracking down these car crooks before they strike again. She’s also thinking twice about the way she reacted to the theft.
“Looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have run after two guys stealing my car,” she said. “Who knows if they could have had weapons or something.”
If you have any information on the thieves’ whereabouts, 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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