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Five men have been accused of stealing a tourist’s $100,000 watch at gunpoint in Miami’s Design District, and then opening fire at an officer who tried to stop them.
Three of the suspects, Larry Junior Mendez-Ruiz, Alejandro Moises and Raynner Jorland Pacheco-Sandoval, were indicted on Dec. 6. Their co-defendants Ildemar Jose Chirinos-Torres and Briann Ricardo Hernandez-Castillo have yet to go before a judge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a news release.
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The charges against them stem from a crime on Dec. 15, 2023, when the men, all from Venezuela, drove around in three separate cars “searching for wealthy victims to rob,” the attorney's office said.
“According to the allegations, Chirinos-Torres and Hernandez-Castillo were seen on surveillance video exiting the vehicle, walking to a valet stand,” robbing the victim at gunpoint in the area of 90 NE 39 Street and then taking off, the attorney’s office and Miami police said at the time.
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Undercover Fort Lauderdale police detectives who were investigating a separate matter then followed behind the suspects in their unmarked vehicles.
That’s when Chirinos-Torres allegedly fired at one detective multiple times. The detective was not hit.
Pacheco-Sandoval is accused of serving as the look-out to identify victims wearing high end jewelry.
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Mendez-Ruiz allegedly picked up Chirinos-Torres and Hernandez-Castillo after they abandoned the getaway vehicle driven by Moises.
Authorities say some of the defendants drove to and out of Florida to commit the robbery.
Mendez-Ruiz, Moises and Pacheco-Sandoval were ordered detained pending trial.
The men are charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
