MIAMI – A 39-year-old man faced 18 charges Wednesday after a human trafficking task force took notice of his alleged crimes with minors in Miami-Dade County, records show.
Two mothers and a father talked to police after Tyrell Dante Wheelers allegedly approached three teenage girls while they walked to a fast-food restaurant in Miami’s West Flagler neighborhood.
Recommended Videos
One of the mothers found incriminating photos in her teenage daughter’s phone and called the police for help. Detectives suspected Wheelers was grooming the teens.
“Traffickers oftentimes target victims who have some noticeable vulnerability such as emotional neediness, low self-esteem or economic stress,” Miami Detective Danny Estevez wrote, records show. “They then gain their trust and fill in whatever needs they have identified, including buying gifts, being a friend, beginning a romantic relationship, or buying soft drugs and alcohol.”
A 14-year-old girl said when she and her two friends first met Wheeler, he persuaded them to get into his car in May and he befriended them by giving them alcohol, marijuana, cash, and weapons — and eventually showing them how to use Telegram to help him sell narcotics.
“Traffickers also use narcotics to subdue and coerce their victims,” Estevez wrote, records show.
Estevez, a member of the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force, started to work on the case in June and eventually had enough evidence to request an arrest warrant. A judge signed it on Thursday and prosecutors filed a case on Friday.
County court records show Miami police officers arrested Wheelers, who has an arrest record in Miami-Dade, on Tuesday, and a judge ordered him to stay away from the teens. County inmate records show he remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Wednesday. His bond is $48,000.
Wheelers is facing six counts of custody interference, a felony; six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor; and three counts of giving a weapon to a minor, a misdemeanor. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Richard Hersch is presiding over the case.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.