MIAMI – Police in Miami-Dade County are searching for a burglar who was caught on camera breaking into condos at a high rise in Brickell.
Residents say the crook got away with thousands of dollars’ worth of their belongings and are concerned he may strike again.
The incident on Saturday caused quite the scare for residents of the SLS LUX Brickell condo building.
Heavily armed police descended on the building, looking for a possibly armed thief.
City of Miami Police Crime Scene investigators remained at the scene late into Saturday evening.
On the building’s pool deck, residents shared videos of officers evacuating the area.
Inside the building, several residents said a man seen on surveillance video was going floor to floor, searching for unlocked front doors.
Resident Alex Minio said he came back home to find his valuables gone.
“Thousands, thousands of dollars,” he said. “Everything was just gone, it was clean -- it’s just -- everything was gone -- diamonds, watches, cash, that’s it.”
Residents said the man entered several apartments, scooping up anything of value in sight.
Police restricted entry to the building for several hours as they searched for the man.
Residents received emails from building management just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday after learning that police had not located the man, but that the building would increase security and add armed guards for 48 hours.
“We trust the building, so when you have the foyer unlocked and somebody goes in, it’s on the building,” Minio said.
Both residents and others from out of town staying in the building’s hotel were left shaken.
“Not knowing what’s going on, it’s, like, frightening, and to think, it looks like it’s a friendly building with not much going on, so that’s, like, frightening,” said hotel guest Jennifer Candela.
One resident told Local 10 News’ Cody Weddle that he was in his apartment when the man came inside.
The man told the resident he was looking for someone, and the resident said he showed the man he had a gun and the man left.
Anyone with information about the crimes or who thinks they recognize the man in the video is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.