HIALEAH GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A man with an appetite for crime was caught on video trying his best to break into a Hialeah Gardens pizza shop in the middle of the night, breaking a glass window above the entrance doors in the process.
Exterior surveillance footage shows the subject as he got out of his car in the parking lot of the Rey’s Pizza along the 8700 block of Northwest 122nd Street, at around 4 a.m., Tuesday.
A sign outside the pizzeria reads “open 24 hours,” but the hours of operations have changed at this location.
When the man tries to open the doors and realizes the restaurant is closed, he starts violently shaking the doors until the top panel above the doors shatters and falls, sending glass flying.
Interior surveillance footage captures the extent of the force the subject exerted, as well as glass shards hitting the ground.
“He looks angry,” said Julio Gutierrez, an attorney representing Rey’s Pizza. “My only thought is, he’s angry, and the pizzeria is not open, so he said, ‘Hey, let’s break a window.'”
The man is seen getting back into his sedan and driving away. He returned to the restaurant about an hour and a half later.
“I don’t understand why they would do something like this,” said Gutierrez.
The owners of Rey’s Pizza, which has nine locations across Miami-Dade County, also posted the surveillance video on Instagram. They found a little humor in the situation, writing, “This person tried coming in to Rey’s Pizza at 3 in the morning and broke the glass. We know our pizza is delicious, but did you really have to break our stuff!?”
Right before the man starts yanking the doors, a narrator in the Instagram post is heard saying in Spanish, “I need my pizza, my pepperoni pizza.” The clip also features added sound effects, including ‘uy, uy, uy’ as the subject pulled the doors.
But what isn’t funny is how much this outburst cost.
“Usually, when they break a plate glass like that, it’s $1,500 to $2,000 worth of damage,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said he hopes someone knows who the subject is so he can pay for the damage.
“Give us the information. We’d like to put a stop to it. We do want this stuff to stop, and the only way to do that is deterrence,” he said. “They have to figure out that if they do something wrong, they’re going to get caught.”
If you recognize the subject or have any information on this attempted break-in, 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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