CUTLER BAY, Fla. – The FBI is working with the Miami-Dade Police Department to find several people involved in an armed home invasion and killing late last year in Cutler Bay, FBI spokesman James Marshall confirmed Tuesday.
The crime occurred shortly before 11:15 p.m. Nov. 5 in the area of Southwest 222nd Street and 99th Avenue.
According to Marshall, the victim, Daniel J. Macko, 31, and his wife were home with an acquaintance when they noticed a Dodge RAM van was parked near their driveway.
Authorities later confirmed that the van had been reported stolen.
Marshall said Macko’s wife left the home to run an errand and was ambushed by several people who emerged from the van.
Macko heard the commotion, opened the front door and the culprits rushed their way inside the home looking for something, Marshall said.
The acquaintance told authorities they heard the people say they had found “it” before they left the home. Authorities have not disclosed what was taken, but the video shows the group leaving with some luggage.
According to Marshall, Macko was shot several times during the incident and died at the scene.
“I heard three gunshots go off,” a man who lives in the area told Local 10 News.
Macko’s wife and acquaintance were not injured.
“He’s a father. He’s a good man,” a relative of Macko’s told Local 10 News reporter Christina Vazquez last year. “We want justice.”
“He’s a father. He’s a good man,” says one of the grieving friends and family members of Daniel Macko. The 31yo was murdered after being ambushed and shot while entering his Cutler Bay home late last night. “We want justice.” Have information? Call: 305-471-TIPS @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/uHD3DRe0i8
— Christina Vazquez (@CBoomerVazquez) November 6, 2019
Macko’s close cousin, Vickash Ramjit, watched surveillance footage from that day, which was released by the FBI Tuesday, for the first time.
“A little disturbing that this is happening in the communities around us,” Ramjit said. “It is unfortunate it had to happen so close to home.”
The FBI released the video in hopes that someone will recognize the assailants.
“Please come forward,” Ramjit said. “Any kind of closure for the family, mainly the kids, it would do a lot more than you think.”
According to Marshall, the FBI is involved with the case because of an ongoing Hobbs Act investigation.
According to the Department of Justice website, "Although the Hobbs Act was enacted as a statute to combat racketeering in labor-management disputes, the statute is frequently used in connection with cases involving public corruption, commercial disputes, violent criminals and street gangs, and corruption directed at members of labor unions.”
Vazquez spoke to former state and federal prosecutor David Weinstein Tuesday about incidents in which the FBI would get involved in a home invasion/murder investigation.
“The Hobbs Act is a section of federal law that allows federal prosecution for robbery cases because it involves an element of interstate commerce,” Weinstein said. "The interstate commerce is usually the firearm used in the robbery, which is typically manufactured outside of the state where the robbery occurred.
"Another way to establish the element of interstate commerce is when the item that was taken during the robbery or burglary came from outside of the state. Either the use of a firearm manufactured outside of the state or an item of value that was taken during the commission of the crime and had originated from outside of the state will be sufficient to provide the interstate commerce connection to allow for a federal prosecution.
"It is frequently used in home invasion cases and was used in the late 80s, early 90s in tourist robbery cases.”
Anyone with further information is asked to call the FBI at 754-703-2000 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.