SOUTH MIAMI, Fla. – A few blocks away from the headquarters of the South Miami Police Department, heavily armed police officers searched for a 40-year-old fugitive accused of injuring a police officer during the pursuit.
Detective Fernando Bosch identified Mathew Hester as a wanted robbery suspect who shot at a police officer before running away on Wednesday night at the Lee Condominiums in the area of Southwest 68 Street and 61st Court.
“The officer attempted to draw his firearm but was fired upon first by the armed suspect, who had sought cover behind a dumpster in the parking lot. The officer sought cover behind a parked car, and the suspect managed to escape deeper into the complex,” Bosch wrote.
There was a search involving a helicopter with the Miami-Dade Police Department and a SWAT team armored vehicle. There were also Miami-Dade police officers with dogs sniffing around.
Upon conducting a knock and talk at the subject’s mother’s residence within the complex, officers successfully located and arrested the suspect. A handgun, believed to be connected to the crime, was recovered at the scene. The suspect was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, carrying a firearm by a convicted felon, and resisting an officer with violence.
A police officer suffered minor injuries and received immediate medical attention for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Bosch.
Miami-Dade County court records show Hester is facing charges in two pending cases. One is a domestic violence case of robbery by sudden snatching. The new case is for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The Florida Department of Corrections database did not have a convicted felon profile for Hester, but he does have an arrest record in Miami-Dade County.
After arrests for cocaine and marijuana, Hester was arrested for consumption or possession of alcohol in open containers near a store in 2011. There was a cocaine possession arrest in 2013 and a domestic violence arrest in 2017. Miami-Dade police officers arrested him for possession of a controlled substance in 2019, and there were three arrests for battery last year.
Detectives were asking anyone with information about the cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk EditorS Wilson Louis and Stephany Heilbron contributed to this report.