MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A police chase ended Wednesday morning with one suspect being taken into custody at Miami International Airport.
Sky 10 was above the chase shortly after 6:30 a.m. as a black Chevrolet Tahoe was being followed by police in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 from 62nd Street.
The driver then headed west on State Road 112 before stopping at the airport near departures.
The man who was driving the SUV was taken to the ground by officers at gunpoint before being handcuffed.
He has since been identified as 57-year-old Walter Lee Griggs Jr.
According to Miami-Dade police, the SUV was stolen and had stolen property inside.
The truck belongs to Joe Basto. It was taken around 9 p.m. Tuesday from his business, Wilson Window Tint, in Margate. Police said surveillance cameras were rolling when Griggs broke into the business and got into the SUV like he was the owner.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Basto told Local 10 News’ Liane Morejon, who asked him how he could tell the stolen vehicle in the police chase was his. “When they zoomed in with the helicopter, I could see the rims.”
Police said the SUV was followed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Aviation unit from Broward all the way to MIA.
Miami-Dade police then took Griggs into custody at the airport.
MDPD is handling the stolen vehicle recovery and said the theft of the SUV is being handled by the Margate Police Department.
“The truck is filled with automotive tint, house film, our tools,” Basto said. “That’s basically our work vehicle.”
He was able to pick up his SUV from the tow yard intact.
“Looks like almost everything is there,” he said. “We found the laptop, that was the most important. All the film is there, all the tools, a battery charger.”
Basto said there were additional items in there that were not his.
“That’s not our laptop, I don’t know whose bag that is, and that’s not our clothes either,” he said. “I’ve never seen that TV in my life. I wasn’t the only place that he hit.”