NewsHound
10-18-2011, 03:11 PM
From MiamiHerald.com
Sweetwater Police officers patrolled Dolphin Mall in West Miami-Dade on Friday by car, bike, Segway and foot, in uniform and plainclothes, “looking like hoodlums.”
It was the day after bullets flew in the parking lot of the popular shopping destination with 240 stores that draws millions of shoppers annually and is the size of a “small city.”
But that police presence, Sweetwater Police Chief Roberto Fulgueira said, was not in response to a wild incident Thursday night in which a man and woman who fled after trying to buy merchandise with a stolen credit card ran over one officer with an SUV and led police on two chases — one in a taxi — before landing in jail.
“This is the police presence we do every day since we took over control of the mall,” said Fulgueira, whose department assumed enforcement duties in the formerly unincorporated area in December after Sweetwater residents voted to annex the two square miles north of the city that includes Dolphin Mall.
“We are very proactive there,” he said. “Before, when a crime was committed there, security would make a call and an officer would be sent over and write a report.”
The chief said he views the mall like a “wild horse.”
“Sooner or later, you’re going to tame it because criminals are going to realize they can’t commit crimes there because they are going to get caught.”
So when a clerk at Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th alerted the outlet store’s crime-prevention officer that two customers were trying to use a stolen credit card, police sprang into action.
Officer Luis Marrero, who was already working at the mall, responded to the parking lot where Cassandra Davis, 27, of Miami Gardens, had gotten into a black Ford Expedition. She locked herself inside and turned on the engine. Marrero leaned against the hood with his gun drawn. “He was going to break the window with his gun, but was afraid it would go off,” Fulgueira said. “When he put his gun away, she couldn’t go backward so she gunned the vehicle forward.”
Marrero was able to push himself away enough to avoid serious injury, but was thrown to the ground. A plainclothes officer who was working a burglary detail in the mall arrived to back him up and fired two shots at the Expedition.
“There were witnesses in the parking lot, but the officer was shooting directly at the vehicle and did not put anyone in danger,” Fulgueira said. Wilson sped away, but did not get far. Police ran her off the road a few blocks away in front of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement building.
In the meantime, Herbert Wilson, 32, of Miami Gardens, had fled on foot about the length of two football fields to a nearby Courtyard By Marriott hotel.
“He went inside and asked employees to call him a cab, then he waited outside hiding in the bushes for it to arrive,’’ Fulgueira said. A cab picked him up, but the taxi cab driver became suspicious.”
The Yellow Cab driver kept his cool and slyly kept police informed of his whereabouts via his cellphone. Police caught up with the cab about 14 miles away on State Road 836 as it approached northbound Interstate 95.
Wilson was charged with resisting a law enforcement officer without violence and credit-card fraud. Davis was charged with aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police at a high rate of speed and credit card fraud. All charges are felonies.
Both have long rap sheets. Wilson has been arrested 14 times for various offenses including grand theft vehicle and robbery with an armed weapon. Davis has been arrested five times for charges that include assault, forgery and grand theft.
Marrero was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for bruises on his left side and released a few hours later. His brother, also a Sweetwater police officer, said he was doing “fine.”
The Sweetwater Police Department has grown to 125 officers from 48 since December due to the added responsibility of patrolling the annexed areas. Much of the new manpower is dedicated to the mall.
“We’re not Mayberry anymore,” Fulgueira said.
Dolphin Mall general manager Pete Marrero (no relation to the officer) was not available for comment Friday. But shoppers queried about security said they had no concerns.
“We come here every weekend and feel very safe,” said Genesis Elizalde, 19. “Me, too,” added her friend Ingrid Flores, 20.
Angelica Naveillan of Santiago, Chile, also said she was unworried. “Oh, no. We come here every year to buy presents for our family.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/15/2 ... z1b98svQmX (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/15/2453671/two-arrested-in-dolphin-mall.html#ixzz1b98svQmX)
Sweetwater Police officers patrolled Dolphin Mall in West Miami-Dade on Friday by car, bike, Segway and foot, in uniform and plainclothes, “looking like hoodlums.”
It was the day after bullets flew in the parking lot of the popular shopping destination with 240 stores that draws millions of shoppers annually and is the size of a “small city.”
But that police presence, Sweetwater Police Chief Roberto Fulgueira said, was not in response to a wild incident Thursday night in which a man and woman who fled after trying to buy merchandise with a stolen credit card ran over one officer with an SUV and led police on two chases — one in a taxi — before landing in jail.
“This is the police presence we do every day since we took over control of the mall,” said Fulgueira, whose department assumed enforcement duties in the formerly unincorporated area in December after Sweetwater residents voted to annex the two square miles north of the city that includes Dolphin Mall.
“We are very proactive there,” he said. “Before, when a crime was committed there, security would make a call and an officer would be sent over and write a report.”
The chief said he views the mall like a “wild horse.”
“Sooner or later, you’re going to tame it because criminals are going to realize they can’t commit crimes there because they are going to get caught.”
So when a clerk at Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th alerted the outlet store’s crime-prevention officer that two customers were trying to use a stolen credit card, police sprang into action.
Officer Luis Marrero, who was already working at the mall, responded to the parking lot where Cassandra Davis, 27, of Miami Gardens, had gotten into a black Ford Expedition. She locked herself inside and turned on the engine. Marrero leaned against the hood with his gun drawn. “He was going to break the window with his gun, but was afraid it would go off,” Fulgueira said. “When he put his gun away, she couldn’t go backward so she gunned the vehicle forward.”
Marrero was able to push himself away enough to avoid serious injury, but was thrown to the ground. A plainclothes officer who was working a burglary detail in the mall arrived to back him up and fired two shots at the Expedition.
“There were witnesses in the parking lot, but the officer was shooting directly at the vehicle and did not put anyone in danger,” Fulgueira said. Wilson sped away, but did not get far. Police ran her off the road a few blocks away in front of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement building.
In the meantime, Herbert Wilson, 32, of Miami Gardens, had fled on foot about the length of two football fields to a nearby Courtyard By Marriott hotel.
“He went inside and asked employees to call him a cab, then he waited outside hiding in the bushes for it to arrive,’’ Fulgueira said. A cab picked him up, but the taxi cab driver became suspicious.”
The Yellow Cab driver kept his cool and slyly kept police informed of his whereabouts via his cellphone. Police caught up with the cab about 14 miles away on State Road 836 as it approached northbound Interstate 95.
Wilson was charged with resisting a law enforcement officer without violence and credit-card fraud. Davis was charged with aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police at a high rate of speed and credit card fraud. All charges are felonies.
Both have long rap sheets. Wilson has been arrested 14 times for various offenses including grand theft vehicle and robbery with an armed weapon. Davis has been arrested five times for charges that include assault, forgery and grand theft.
Marrero was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for bruises on his left side and released a few hours later. His brother, also a Sweetwater police officer, said he was doing “fine.”
The Sweetwater Police Department has grown to 125 officers from 48 since December due to the added responsibility of patrolling the annexed areas. Much of the new manpower is dedicated to the mall.
“We’re not Mayberry anymore,” Fulgueira said.
Dolphin Mall general manager Pete Marrero (no relation to the officer) was not available for comment Friday. But shoppers queried about security said they had no concerns.
“We come here every weekend and feel very safe,” said Genesis Elizalde, 19. “Me, too,” added her friend Ingrid Flores, 20.
Angelica Naveillan of Santiago, Chile, also said she was unworried. “Oh, no. We come here every year to buy presents for our family.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/15/2 ... z1b98svQmX (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/15/2453671/two-arrested-in-dolphin-mall.html#ixzz1b98svQmX)