MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies were investigating a home invasion early Thursday morning near the Homestead Air Reserve Base.
According to Detective Luis Sierra, deputies responded to a house at Southwest 284 Street and 130 Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade.
Ashon Lillie, a neighbor, said three people were walking up and down the street, and later there was a scream, “Oh my God!” And, then silence and dogs barking.
Officer Samantha Choon said a man who lives at the home reported three masked black-clad gunmen ambushed him after midnight outside the home.
“They took him into the home. They gathered the rest of the family; they took them into one room,” Choon said.
Miami-Dade County property records show York Perez owns the two-story four-bedroom house in the Lake Frances subdivision.
“One of the subjects held the victims at gunpoint in the room while the other two ransacked the home,” Choon said.
The burglars got away with the homeowner’s jewelry and clothing and also stole the victim’s white Cadillac sports utility vehicle, police said.
“There were no injuries and we are fortunate for that - but this was a scary situation,” Choon said.
The homeowners had a glass-encased life-size statue of Saint Lazarus, the Catholic patron saint of the poor and sick, outside. He is also an important figure in Santería, a religion that started in Cuba.
Perez, who has over 121,000 followers on TikTok, posted pictures of the tall statue at his home on his account with photos of his daughter, a toddler, and his pregnant wife a few days ago.
Miami-Dade deputies did not release the identity of the victims, but Perez, a well-known Cuban jeweler, used social media to describe his nightmare.
On Thursday, Perez posted a video saying in Spanish that he and his family had been the victims of a burglary, and three men held them hostage for about six hours, so he was not going to be opening his businesses.
“The biggest fear of my life is that something would happen to my daughter,” Perez wrote on TikTok in Spanish.
Perez regularly shares photos and videos of gold Cuban chains, large rings and pendants encrusted with diamonds, and other pieces he sells at his two stores. Perez said the burglars also stole designer bags and two watches.
“This is a lesson I learned to slow down a bit on social media,” Perez said in Spanish on TikTok. He also had a message for the burglars: “God bless you.”
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
This is a developing story. Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
Post on TikTok (Warning: Expletives in Spanish)
@yorkjewelry17 Ayer tuve la experiencia mas amarga de mi vida🙏. El temor mas grande de mi vida es que le pasara algo a mi Hija💪🙏🙏🙏🙏#graciasdiosportusbendiciones ##graciasdios #mihijahermosa ♬ original sound - York Jewelry👑