SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A victim is speaking out after he was robbed of over $5,000 in cash from his vehicle outside a Publix supermarket in Southwest Miami-Dade.
The victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was inside the store for less than 15 minutes on Oct. 9.
When he came out, he said he found out his window was broken and the money gone.
“You work so hard and someone just takes a lot of money just like that,” the victim said.
Police said the burglary began when the victim visited a Wells Fargo bank to cash checks before running other errands.
According to investigators, two crooks followed the victim from the bank.
“I was in there for about 11 minutes, and when I came out, I saw that I was broken into,” the victim said.
More than $5,000, which was earned from working two jobs, were stolen from the vehicle, and unfortunately, he is not the only victim of this type of crime.
Kerric Harris stood before a judge in bond court on Oct. 24. The 23-year-old and his alleged accomplice Darris McInnis are accused of following victims from banks and then breaking into their cars and stealing cash.
Police said there have been more than a dozen of these crimes in Miami-Dade County since the start of 2019.
Some of the crimes turned violent, according to investigators.
“When the victim stopped, they blocked him in, used a window punch, broke the driver and passenger window, reached into the console and removed the envelope containing $6,000 in U.S. currency,” Judge Mindy S. Glazer said in court.
While the accused crooks remain behind bars, one of their alleged victims has forgiven them. He said he hopes justice is swift after he learned an expensive lesson that he will never forget.
“I have forgiven those people,” he said. “I just want to continue my life — just be more careful.”
The victim also said he wants to see better surveillance videos in shopping centers, so that these types of crimes will not happen.
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