MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have released surveillance video in an effort to identify a man they said molested a 12-year-old girl inside of a convenience store in downtown Miami.
It happened at a 7-Eleven in the area of Northeast First Street and Second Avenue, Monday.
“The girl was screaming, ‘This guy touched me! This guy touched me,'” a witness said. “I said to her, ‘What does he look like?’ ‘Oh, he had on a white T-shirt.’ The guy just walked right past us. She’s a little young girl. She was not physically hurt, but she was definitely violated.”
City of Miami Police’s special victims unit said the man seen in the video is wanted for lewd and lascivious molestation.
According to police, the man encountered a young woman and a 12-year-old girl, and then, he allegedly began to touch the girl.
“A 12-year-old girl in company of her cousin walk into this business, and while they’re inside the business, one man bumps into her,” Miami Police spokesperson Kenia Fallat said. “She thinks it’s an accident, so she goes about her way inside the store, and the man approaches her once again.”
Police said when the girl and the woman she was with were inside of the store, the man brushed up against the girl before touching her on the back side at least twice.
“This time, he touches her,” Fallat said. “A third time, he not only brushes up against her, but he actually grabs her buttocks.”
Soon after, investigators said the man left the store and could be seen on video at a nearby MetroRail station minutes later, but he never boarded a train, according to sources.
Officers could be seen searching for the man, asking those in the neighborhood what they know about the incident, Friday night.
“He also took off,” Fallat said. “We have surveillance cameras from inside of the business as well as a Miami-Dade MetroRail station where he fled to. Somebody has to recognize him. Somebody may know where he is and what his name is.”
According to the witness, the man is known to hang around the area.
“Well, we see him around,” he said. “He definitely [lives in the neighborhood]. All you gotta do is circle around certain areas. You’ll find out.”
If you have any information on the man’s identity, 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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