‘Thank God we're OK': Miami Gardens couple survives violent home invasion on Christmas

A Miami-Dade couple is counting their blessings after they survived a violent home invasion on Christmas thanks to the husband’s quick thinking.

At around 8 p.m. Monday, Jose and his wife Gladys were enjoying a quiet evening at their Miami Gardens home when they heard a knock at the front door.

"When I opened the door, he said, hey, don’t move, that’s a hold-up — he said how many people in the house? I said, no, me and my wife," Jose said.

Police said the intruder was 53-year-old Hiram Crispin, who’s described as homeless in the arrest report.

Jose said the suspect asked him to call his wife over, and at gunpoint, forced both of them into a room where he tied their hands.

"He said, get the money, get the money, I know you got money," he said. "I gave what I have then he asked for more money."

Jose said that even after giving him more than $1,000, the suspect demanded more.

That’s when he had an idea.

"I said, OK, OK, I remember now I got some more money in my van outside," Jose recalled. "He said, oh you got money outside in the van? I said yes, he said OK."

Before going out to his van, Jose said the suspect threatened his wife with shooting him if she was gone when they came back.

"When I get the money, we get back inside the house," he said.

The suspect then put the gun on a table to tie Jose back up again, but things took a turn.

"I pushed the guy, I fight with the guy, and then I tell my wife, go get the gun, get the gun, and shoot it to the air — and call the people, call the neighbor," Jose said.

When police arrived, they found Jose holding down the suspect on his front porch.

He showed the cuts on his hand from when he took a knife out of the suspect’s hand during the fistfight.

"That’s the Christmas present, but thank God we’re OK, and the money is nothing," Jose said.

Jose said he never has cash at home and that he just happened to have it that day because it was Christmas and banks were closed.

His van now has a bullet hole and so does his fence from the shots his wife fired to get neighbors' attention.

Crispin was booked into jail, where he’s facing a home invasion charge and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The couple said they’re now working on installing cameras and alarms at their home. He mentioned that the suspect was the husband of a friend of his that he hadn’t seen in years. Jose and his wife each have their own business, and he thinks that may be why they were targeted.