HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A Hialeah man faced numerous criminal charges after police said he operated an illegal towing business and, along with an accomplice, stole parts from a car in a Homestead hotel parking lot.
According to Homestead police, officers responded to the Uptown Suites extended stay hotel at 1071 NE 28th Ave. Sunday regarding a car burglary that had occurred Friday.
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Pedro Martin, 51, had been detained in connection with the incident.
According to an arrest report, Martin was shown surveillance video of himself parking his tow truck in front of the car, getting out, urinating on the ground, then walking to the victim’s vehicle, leaving, then eventually coming back.
Police said Martin was then seen with another man removing parts from the vehicle.
Martin wouldn’t tell police who that man was, they said, but officers later identified the second suspect as Michel Gonzalo-Soca, 47.
The report states that on Wednesday, Martin had towed Gonzalo-Soca’s pickup truck from Hialeah to the motor home he lives in off the hotel’s property.
According to police, after being shown surveillance video, Gonzalo-Soca “began crying” and made a confession, which was redacted from the police report.
Police found that Martin’s tow truck business did not have the requisite markings, licensing or paperwork to legally operate.
Both men faced charges of burglary and grand theft, while Martin faced additional charges of towing a vehicle without commercial markings, a third-degree felony, and failing to maintain or produce records regarding a towing business, a misdemeanor.
He also faced multiple local ordinance violations.