A man who was allegedly trying to burglarize a sports car in a Miami Beach parking garage ended up locked inside, and the owner caught the exchange on video.
It happened at 1601 Washington Avenue on Monday at around 12:48 p.m., when a witness saw a man open the door of an unlocked Chevrolet Corvette, sit in the driver’s seat and stay inside, according to an arrest report.
The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Ravesh Rabindranauth, was later charged with burglary of an unoccupied conveyance.
The witness alerted police and the owner of the Corvette, Julio Solano.
The Hurricane season is on. Our meteorologists are ready. Sign up for the NBC 6 Weather newsletter to get the latest forecast in your inbox.
Solano, who also owns a company that rents exotic and luxury vehicles, started filming.
“My brother, this is not your car. This is my car,” a flabbergasted Solano says in the video as he approaches the man sitting in the front seat. “No you can’t get out–we’re calling the cops.”
The suspect appears to ask, “For what?” to which Solano replies, “What do you mean for what? This is grand theft auto–are you trying to steal my car? What are you doing? You can't be doing that.”
Local
The suspect’s responses cannot be heard, but he motions and gestures to Solano and appears to show him a valet ticket.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” Solano said. “I didn’t know if it was a joke… that’s why I took out my phone and started recording.”
In one moment, Solando said the situation turned tense.
“After I stopped recording, he got aggressive and started to hit the window and got upset. He was looking for something in his backpack,” he said.
When authorities arrived, they asked Rabindranauth to get out of the car, but he could not "open the door due to an unconventional door mechanism he could not figure out," an arrest report details.
Officers said they saw the suspect "reach for the dash... as to start the vehicle," and since a witness told them he also had a bag in the car, they drew their weapons.
Eventually they opened the doors, Rabindranauth got out and onto the floor, where he was handcuffed, authorities said and video shows.
The suspect allegedly told officers that he’d been sent there to pick up a Lamborghini Urus SUV, but it was locked. He said he tried to open the door to a Ford Mustang that was also locked, until he found the Corvette.
Rabindranauth was taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where he was held on $2,500 bond.
