New video shows thieves trying to take off with a safe full of jewelry in Tampa. When that didn’t go according to plan. police said the group traveled down to South Florida to conduct a similar steal of pricey designer purses from a Miami Beach boutique.
The video, obtained exclusively by 7News, shows the group of thieves hitting the Tampa jewelry store on March 9.
The group bashed their way inside and through it, leaving with a giant vault filled with much of the shop’s inventory.
The business owner of the Tampa shop, Carlos Rodriguez, is fed up with the aftermath of the heist.
“They just want to come and take whatever they want,” said Rodriguez. “It’s just hard. It’s just tough.”
Rodriguez takes great pride in the custom jewels he manufactures and sells.
“I try to work every day hard,” said Rodriguez.
On TikTok, the popular social media app, he shows off his merchandise and craft.
“All handmade. Miami Cuban Links,” one posted video shows Rodriguez saying.
But his business was hit big time when the thieves smashed their way in with a crowbar and hauled the safe to their stolen truck.
“I’m assuming it was their idea to hit the camera,” said Rodriguez. “They came in and out in less than three or four minutes.”
But the adrenaline rush of stealing the shop did not go fully as planned for the thieves.
Video shows the vault falling to the ground as they tried loading it into the truck.
“It fell when they were trying to load it in the truck. The lift broke as well,” said Rodriguez.
Scared of getting caught, the thieves jumped in their car and drove off, leaving the vault behind.
While Rodriguez was able to recover his jewelry, he was left to pick up the pieces of thousands of dollars in damages to his store.
After the failed heist in Tampa, Miami Beach Police said the group inside the Tampa store was the same group that hit the Setai Hotel’s boutique, leaving with $1.8 million in designer purses.
The theft took place inside the Maison Wrist Aficionado, the ground-floor boutique at The Setai.
Celebrities have flaunted Birkins online, in magazines, and elsewhere. The ones on the store’s website are the price of cars.
Their mission, according to a police report, was “to steal over 60 Hermès Birkin designer handbags with a total value of over $1,800,000.00.”
While the Tampa owner shared his story, the owner of the Miami Beach boutique did not want to speak to 7News.
After their Miami Beach handbag heist, police arrested 45-year-old Eduardo Garcia, who confessed to being a lookout for the thieves inside and admitting to being part of a similar crime hours earlier in the Tampa area.
Police said that Garcia’s alleged partners and the designer bags are nowhere to be found.
Back in Tampa, Rodriguez hopes they are caught soon.
“These people need to be caught. They need to be stopped,” said Rodriguez.
Both crimes remain under investigation.
