Ruben Enrique Gutierrez-Jimenez, 33, was arrested Friday on charges including theft, dealing in stolen property and giving false verification of ownership or a false or altered identification, records showed.
An alleged serial Home Depot thief who repeatedly stole power tools from Home Depot stores in Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens has been arrested, police said.
Ruben Enrique Gutierrez-Jimenez, 33, was arrested Friday on charges including theft, dealing in stolen property and giving false verification of ownership or a false or altered identification, records showed.
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WATCH HEREAccording to an arrest report, Gutierrez-Jimenez was arrested after an eight-day theft spree at Home Depot stores in Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens.
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The police investigation began after a Home Depot organized retail crimes investigator contacted police about a "serial booster" who was targeting the stores to steal power tools, the report said.
The investigators later identified the suspect as Gutierrez-Jimenez and identified his car as a 2021 grey Hyundai Elantra, the report said.
The first alleged theft happened on March 7, when Gutierrez-Jimenez entered the Home Depot at 950 Southeast 12th Street in Hialeah and left the store pushing a cart containing two grinders worth $328 without paying, the report said.
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On March 8, he entered the same Home Depot, where he took two grinders and a heat gun worth $417 total without paying, the report said.
Later that same day, he went to the Home Depot at 13895 W. Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens and left with two drills and a hammer drill worth a total of $447, the report said.
The next day, March 9, at the same Hialeah Gardens store, he took a drill, an impact wrench and a circular saw worth $597, investigators said.
On March 10, once again at the Hialeah Gardens store, Gutierrez-Jimenez stole two hammer drills and a circular saw worth $567, the report said.
On March 11, back at the store on Southeast 12th Street in Hialeah, he stole a rotary hammer, a nailer, and two hammer drills worth $756, the report said.
The day after that, March 12, he went back to the Hialeah Gardens store where he stole an angle grinder circular saw, a worm drive and a circular saw worth $589, the report said.
On March 13 at the Hialeah Gardens store, Gutierrez-Jimenez took three angle grinders and a hammer drill worth $586, investigators said.
But on Friday, March 14, his vehicle was found by the Home Depot investigator at the store on 12th Street in Hialeah.
Gutierrez-Jimenez entered the store and loaded up a cart with a nailer, a jigsaw, an angle grinder and a rad kit worth $996 and walked out of the store but as he was pushing the cart to his car, he was taken into custody by detectives, the report said.
A records check showed Gutierrez-Jimenez had made seven pawn transactions in Hialeah and claimed he was the rightful owner of the stolen items, the report said.
Gutierrez-Jimenez was arrested and booked into jail.
