SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – Police officers recently arrested a 24-year-old man over the alleged crime that he committed after running into a 10-year-old girl and her 12-year-old sister in an elevator in a Sunny Isles Beach condominium building.
When the girls got home, they reported they didn’t understand what the man said because he didn’t say it in English, but the boundaries that they said he crossed when he interacted with the youngest were bad enough that their father called police.
Recommended Videos
Officer Michael Barilari responded, watched the surveillance video from the building, identified the man as Kevin Mejia, a maintenance worker, and questioned him. Barilari asked him why he greeted the 10-year-old girl with a “kissing gesture” and showed her his phone.
Mejia “said he did show her the phone for translation,” Barilari wrote in his report.
Barilari also reported Mejia was inconsistent throughout his investigation and his condominium building maintenance supervisor said it was his opinion that there were no work-related reasons for him to get off the elevator and follow the girls.
Mejia ”stated that she winked at him and he took that as a sign that she wanted to talk to him. He then exited the elevator to continue talking to her and stated the victim extended her hand to him,” Barilari wrote.
Barilari concluded Mejia’s actions were “intentional and physical which consisted of child abuse,” so he arrested him on Wednesday. Records show Miami-Dade correctional officers booked Mejia shortly before 9 p.m. and he remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Thursday.
Mejia faced a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm. Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.