MIAMI (WSVN) - A man was arrested in connection to an auto burglary that occurred on November 25, 2023, in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Miami, but upon his arrest, authorities found he may be in trouble with the feds.
The victim, Camila Rodriguez, reported the incident to police and even spoke to 7News after the brazen theft occurred. She said that her car was parked at the Home Depot located at 2999 SW 32nd Ave. around 12:35 p.m. when she discovered that approximately $1,000 worth of items in shopping bags were missing from her car.
Video footage from Rodriguez’s Tesla cameras revealed a white, heavy-set man wearing a brown shirt, brown shorts, brown Crocs and dark sunglasses opening the trunk of her car. The suspect, identified as 53-year-old Jesus Fernandez, was seen removing all the bags and placing them into a shopping cart before cleaning the trunk with a multicolored rag and fleeing the scene.
“It recorded a man taking out all of the bags on his shoulder and then realized he didn’t have enough,” said Rodriguez in an interview with 7News. “So, he went and grabbed a Home Depot cart and loaded it up with all the other stuff.”
Rodriguez told 7News at the time that the man in the video swiped all of her Christmas presents she had bought for her family and friends.
“He took something from me that belonged to me that I had spent time and effort gathering,” said Rodriguez on the day of the theft.
She also told police that she remembered seeing Fernandez smile at her as she entered the store but did not think anything of it at the time.
Three days after the incident, police reportedly sent out a flyer of the thief at the time, and someone from the Doral Police Department recognized him.
“We contacted Doral Police Department where a detective sees the flyer and says, ‘I know this guy. I’ve arrested him before for something similar.’ [They] give us the information as Jesus Fernandez,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
On Thursday, just before 6 p.m., authorities located Fernandez in Miami Beach and took him into custody. Fernandez was brought into the City of Miami Police Station for an interview where he confessed to the burglary.
“We communicate, and we will get you eventually,” Vega added.
Fernandez is being charged with third-degree felony burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and third-degree grand theft, but these charges might be the least of his worries.
“Once in custody, we find out that Interpol and [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] have a warrant on him for smuggling people across the Mexican border,” said Vega.
Fernandez appeared before a judge on Friday. Along with charges from this incident, he is also being charged for similar cases in Doral and elsewhere in Miami-Dade County.
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