MIAMI – A barefoot intruder was caught on camera scaling a balcony and breaking into a Miami home early Monday, stealing two wooden boxes — one containing the ashes of a beloved dog named Charlie.
“A house is supposed to be a place where you know you are safe. It’s your domain,” said Michael Ramirez, the homeowner and a local record store owner.
The incident happened around 3 a.m. while Ramirez was asleep.
Surveillance footage obtained by Local 10 News Friday shows the thief climbing onto the balcony and breaking in.
“That is what you are seeing — someone breaking and entering in a dwelling,” Ramirez said.
The burglar took two boxes from Ramirez’s room. While one was empty, the other held Charlie’s ashes.
“I’m not sure if they thought there was jewelry in them,” Ramirez said. “But what they took was irreplaceable.”
Ramirez described the crime as mindless and senseless.
“To jump onto a railing, to pull yourself up onto a balcony, to risk breaking into someone’s home — to risk being shot and killed or getting into an altercation to get a felony charge just to take something of personal value, that is irreplaceable, it doesn’t make sense,” Ramirez said. “I would love to get my dog’s remains back intact with that box.”
Ramirez is offering a $1,000 cash reward and told Local 10 News last week, “I just want my dog’s remains back.”
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call Miami police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.