MIAMI – A Homestead man who police accused of trying to abduct a 13-year-old girl outside of her home in early March will remain locked up, a Miami-Dade judge ordered Wednesday.
Michael Luprecio, 43, is facing charges of attempted child kidnapping and battery.
According to police, on March 8, the victim said she was walking her dog outside the apartment she shared with her family, when Luprecio pulled into her driveway along Southwest Fourth Street, near Krome Avenue.
Prosecutors said surveillance video shows him looking under the hood of his Chevrolet Tahoe, then, once the girl passes him, they said he tried to grab her.
“All of a sudden he tried to grab me and I push him and I scream at him and he grabs my lower bottom and I was so shocked,” she told Local 10 News following Luprecio’s arrest. “I just ran to my house.”
Police said Luprecio then drove away.
During Wednesday’s hearing, police played a portion of his interview with detectives. They said he was inconsistent in his recollection of the incident.
“I didn’t grab her to be crazy or anything like that,” he’s heard saying.
“So how did you grab her?” a detective asks.
“I didn’t grab her,” Luprecio said.
Luprecio’s attorney, Eric Matheny, said the surveillance video doesn’t prove anything.
Matheny also argued that Luprecio should be released on bond because he is undergoing treatment for stage two gastric cancer and has a wife and four children at home, one of whom has special needs.
Prosecutors, however, cited not only the facts of the case, but Luprecio’s criminal history and four prior probation violations.
Judge Christina Miranda said the state met its burden to keep Luprecio behind bars pending trial.
“There are no reasonable conditions of release that would ensure that the community would be protected,” Miranda said.
Matheny later said, “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and we’re gonna push forward and exonerate him soon enough.”
Luprecio’s trial is scheduled for May.