AVENTURA, Fla. (WSVN) – A man has been arrested after, police say, he robbed a store and carjacked a taxi cab in Aventura.
Johnnie Dismuke was arrested, Wednesday night, less than two hours after he stole a bag of money from the office in the Kosher Kingdom Supermarket, located on Aventura Boulevard.
“It was a bit shocking,” said Kosher Kingdom Supermarket owner Phil Einhorn. “My sister tries to go into the office, and the office door was locked, and she didn’t know why it was locked, and she heard someone in there. She’s knocking on the door, and then this man, you know, exited the office, told her, ‘I work here.’ She says, ‘No, you don’t.’ He had a bag of quarters.”
Surveillance video showed Dismuke shuffling through drawers in the back office. He then exited the office soon after Einhorn’s sister knocked on the door.
“This guy comes out of the office with a package, so one of the employees runs after him,” said Lolo Einhorn, who is also an owner at the supermarket.
Police said Dismuke then carjacked a taxi cab, forcing the cab driver and a tourist out of the car on North Country Club Drive.
“Subject jumped into a taxi,” said Aventura Police Sgt. Chris Goranitis. “He implied that he had a gun to the taxi driver, but he actually displayed a pair of scissors, and he stabbed the taxi cab driver in the shoulder.”
The cab driver, Wilner Ulysses, was driving a French tourist to a home in Aventura at the time of the carjacking. He said Dismuke jumped into the cab.
“When he jumped, he jumped on the customer, not in front,” said Ulysses. “So she was yelling, trying to kick him, I was trying to push him, and that’s when he shouted, ‘I’m going to shoot you! Get out! Get out! Get out!'”
Ulysses said Dismuke threatened him with a gun multiple times, although Ulysses never saw a weapon.
“That’s when I turn off the car, and I finally get out,” said Ulysses, “and he took the car and left.”
Police pulled Dismuke over on 193rd Street and Collins Avenue shortly after.
“It was very scary,” said Ulysses.
“Very, very scary,” Lolo echoed.
Lolo said the store employees are shaken up. “She’s very scared. She wants security now. We need to do something so she’s safe,” she said.
“We’re very thankful that it could’ve been much worse inside the store,” said Phil. “We’re gonna change a bunch of things around here to make sure that something like this will never happen again.”
The store has since begun making changes to how it handles its work days. “You just have to be aware of your surroundings here,” said Phil. “We’re going to talk to everybody and let them know you have to be aware of your surroundings, be aware of people coming in, people that usually don’t shop here.”
Dismuke now faces charges in connection to the robbery and carjacking. He is currently being held without bond.
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