MIAMI – Arthur Booth, whose courtroom school reunion with his former classmate, Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer, went viral in 2015, was back in court Thursday facing robbery and burglary charges.
This time, he did not encounter Glazer, his former Nautilus Middle School classmate, in bond court. Another judge was on the bench.
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Authorities arrested Booth, 58, on Tuesday in connection with two incidents where he was accused of snatching jewelry from victims: one in Hialeah and another in Miami.
An arrest report states that on Aug. 14, Booth, “wearing dark blue clothing, dark boots, a white construction hard hat, and Gucci sunglasses,” went to a 78-year-old man’s apartment in the 900 block of Southeast 12th Street in Hialeah posing as a plumber and “forcing himself into the victim’s apartment without permission.”
Hialeah police said Booth went to the kitchen and turned on the water as the resident, in fear, “repeatedly” asked him to leave.
Booth “approached the victim and forcibly snatched his gold necklace from around the neck and pushed the victim causing him to almost fall,” police said.
The report states he then fled with the man’s $1,500 necklace.
The second case happened Tuesday evening in Miami’s Grapeland Heights neighborhood, according to police.
Miami police said Booth approached a woman in the area of Northwest 34th Avenue and 17th Street, called her “mami” and “pretended to ask for directions.”
An arrest report states that when the woman turned her back, he snatched her Gucci gold chain with multiple pendants and took off.
Police said they were able to track his vehicle down to a CVS at 690 NW 57th Ave. in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood.
There, they found him, along with the hard hat and Gucci sunglasses from the Hialeah burglary, authorities said.
Authorities said a search of his room at a nearby extended-stay hotel turned up more of the clothing. The report states police were also able to determine that he pawned the Hialeah victim’s necklace at a shop in northwest Miami-Dade.
Police arrested Booth, who was out on probation on charges of fleeing and eluding and reckless driving, on counts of burglary with assault or battery and robbery by sudden snatching.
Held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Thursday, it appears Booth did not live up to Glazer’s hope in 2015: that he would “lead a lawful life” after their courtroom encounter.