MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A duo sought by police in a nearly $2 million armed robbery of a Tennessee jewelry store were jailed in South Florida over the weekend after being captured at a Miami Beach hotel.
According to Miami Beach police, authorities had been seeking Milleni Garcia, 38, and Orlando Valdes Hernandez, 34, in connection with the heist in Nashville.
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Arrest reports state that the pair are local to South Florida: they share the same address on Quail Roost Drive in Miami-Dade’s unincorporated South Miami Heights area.
According to police, they walked into a store called Dubai Jewelry, located in a strip mall in southeastern Nashville, and “began browsing the merchandise” and then “they brandished firearms and threatened the employees, ultimately stealing a considerable amount of gold and other valuable items before fleeing the premises.”
Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN reports that Garcia, Valdes Hernandez and a third suspect used pepper spray and pushed store employees into a back room during the robbery.
The pair made off with $1.7 million in gold and other valuables, police said.
Officers found them Sunday at the Grand Beach Hotel, a four-star hotel located at 4835 Collins Ave. on Mid-Beach. According to WKRN, police recovered jewelry, cash and a wig.
They said the discovery came after “extensive investigation and collaborative efforts” between the Miami Beach and Metro Nashville police departments.
As of Monday morning, Garcia and Valdes Hernandez were being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center awaiting extradition to Tennessee.
The Metro Nashville Police Department hasn’t identified the third suspect and is still looking for him, WKRN reports. Anyone with information is asked to call Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.