EL PORTAL, Fla. – El Portal police officers are searching for a man they say is a brazen prowler.
The man has been seen on surveillance cameras lurking around a quiet neighborhood, and officers want to find out who he is.
“The issue with this one is that he got a little brazen, and he went to the front door,” said El Portal Police Lt. Alejandro Mendez.
Early Sunday at 2:30 a.m. on Northeast 88th Street is where the man is caught clearly on camera.
Catherine Leoni, who lives there, was awake and watching television.
“It was very unnerving, but also, if that door was unlocked, what was his plan?” she said. “I look and I see this person walking quickly away from my house. What goes through your mind? That’s not good.”
It’s a disturbing situation that is quite different from the criminals who try to get into cars.
“He takes it one step further, he goes to the front door,” said Lt. Mendez. “She gets an alert on her phone and says what is going on here?”
A very scary situation for Leoni, who didn’t realize she may have been watched.
“The ring camera caught him peering through the blinds so I’m assuming he saw me, so that’s kind of unsettling, thinking that someone is looking at you and you don’t even know they are looking at you,” she said.
Police think this guy is behind several car break-ins in the area.
“Another similar case and this one, he tries the car doors,” said Lt. Mendez. “I had three or four people post similar events. Either they had him on camera or my car got broken into one street over.”
Anyone with information or who thinks they might recognize the prowler is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.