MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police caught and cuffed a man in Miami Beach following what they described as a crime spree at an exclusive high-rise community that left a man injured and took away residents’ sense of security.
Body camera video obtained exclusively by 7News captured Miami Beach Police officers as they took 31-year-old Brian Lopez into custody steps away from the popular Flamingo Towers, Tuesday night.
“He’s detained already,” an officer is heard saying in the bodycam video as the suspect stood in handcuffs.
According to investigators, Lopez had just committed an armed burglary and battery at two different apartment units.
The bodycam video shows an officer viewing apparent surveillance footage of the suspect.
Detectives said Lopez robbed a woman as she took out the trash in a hallway.
The arrest report states the suspect “produced a firearm, pointed it at [the victim] and demanded for her to bring him to her condominium.”
Once inside one unit, the arrest reports states, Lopez encountered other people and “told them to get on the ground and turn over their belongings.”
When one man refused to get on the ground, the arrest reform states, “The defendant then pistol-whipped” him, “demanded money” and accepted a “transfer [of] $1,500.00 via Zelle.”
The arrest reform further states Lopez “then demanded that the victims to bring him to their vehicle.”
Investigators said that was a victim screamed, causing the robber to run.
It’s an all-too-familiar occurrence in Miami-Dade County, especially this month.
On June 12, gunfire tore through a condominium building in Wynwood in what police called an armed home invasion. Bullets flew from one unit into another, injuring people in two homes.
Investigators said two people were shot and another was pistol-whipped. The subjects got away.
Four days earlier, Miami Police said, a 26-year-old man entered an unlocked unit at the upscale Icon Residences high-rise in Brickell and randomly stabbed and killed a 17 year old boy
“The door’s unlocked, he went inside. Obviously, the gruesome incident happened,” said Miami Police Cmdr. Andres Valdes.
Detectives said the suspect ran to a building across the street from the Icon that was under construction, where he fell to his death from a crane.
Back at the Flamingo, nobody wanted to talk to 7News about Tuesday night or what was in their inbox. In an email, management called it a “security incident” and urged residents to “keep their doors locked at all times.”
Lopez remains locked up at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade. Police said he was out on inmate release status after being released from state prison in late January.
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