A man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing mail in Miami Beach in search of drugs, credit cards and blank checks, according to arrest reports.
Yoel Ojeda, 46, is accused of burglary of an occupied dwelling, criminal mischief, possessing the personal identification information of five or more persons and petit theft.
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Multiple residents reached out to NBC6 after a man was seen breaking into a Miami Beach building twice, with multiple pictures and videos showing him stealing peoples’ mail.
Police said Ojeda used what looked like a crowbar to pry open a mailbox door and put the contents in a bag on Sept. 15 at at 899 West Avenue at around 2 a.m. He tried to open two more mailboxes and failed, an arrest report said.
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He had reportedly also targeted the Admiral Towers at 1020 Meridian Avenue on Sept. 11 and 12. In one of those incidents he is accused of causing about $5,000 in damages along with another unknown subject.
Ojeda allegedly confessed when he was arrested Tuesday, and “stated that he breaks into mailboxes looking for drugs. He also stated that he used the credit cards found in the mail to make purchases for food, clothing items, or gas. The [defendant] also stated that when he finds black checks, he writes them out to himself and deposits them,” an arrest report describes.
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He had five credit cards and an ID card that did not belong to him when he was arrested, police said.
The suspect also allegedly admitted that he drove his Infinity to the beach to commit the burglaries, and that he is out on bond out of Broward County for similar charges, to include fraud, police said.
Ojeda was also accused of another mail theft in January, in which he broke into four mailboxes and caused an estimated $5,000 in damages, according to authorities.
“Definitely have the feeling that it was premeditated and that we've been scoped out and he's a criminal of opportunity," said Mark, a resident of the building on West Avenue for 30 years. "I think he was waiting for it to happen."
Multiple residents who spoke to NBC6 were shocked.
“It's a concern. We are all on alert," Rosie Ciavolino, who has lived in the building for 10 years, said.
Some were disturbed.
“Feeling of being vulnerable and violated," Mark said.
