HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother said she feared for her life and for her 3-month-old son when burglars broke into their house in Hialeah, Wednesday afternoon.
Cassandra, the homeowner and new mother, said she’s had trouble sleeping, even though the suspects and their accomplice were arrested shortly after the break-in.
“I couldn’t sleep, and every noise bothers me,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, the three suspects appeared in bond court. They face occupied burglary charges.
Cassandra, who asked not to show her face or disclose her last name, said she was home with the infant when, she said, a man knocked on the front door of her home near West Fourth Lane and 53rd Street.
The homeowner didn’t answer but kept watching through the window. “When I looked, that’s when I saw he was casing the house,” she said, “and then there was also another gentleman coming out from the back seat of the driver’s side with a hoodie and a ski mask. That’s when I knew that it was a robbery.”
These were terrifying moments for the victim. “I grabbed my son, who is a 3-month-old, and I ran to the room in the back of the house,” said Cassandra.
Once Cassandra got to a room, she called 911, and that’s when, she said, the burglars pried open a window on the side of the house.
Cassandra said all she could think about was one thing. “To protect my son,” she said. “The first thing that came to my mind was my son and to call 911. I couldn’t believe it was happening.”
She said she suddenly realized she could die that day. “I came to peace in my mind that, if I was going to die, I was going to die with my son in my arms,” she said. “That’s literally what just went through my mind because I didn’t know.”
But Hialeah Police and K9 units quickly responded to the scene. Upon arrival, officials spotted the getaway car with the third subject inside, identified as Freddy Dilogene.
The two other men, later identified as Elijan Harrell and Walter Washington, were caught on surveillance video as they fled the scene.
Police managed to apprehend Harrell after a K9 caught up with him.
The victim said she does not recognize any of the suspects, but she is glad they were arrested and are now off the streets. “You’re just [breaking] into someone’s house and stealing my belongings,” Cassandra said. “They’re not good civilians.”
Cassandra later did her own research on the suspects. “I did look up their names, and they’re multiple offenders,” she said. “This is just one of those things, the justice system. These people could kill people. If they don’t want to live in this world and have a job how the rest of us do, then they shouldn’t be out here.”
The homeowner said she is now looking into buying an alarm system.
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