Two men and a woman have been arrested in connection with a string of robberies and abductions over a five-day period in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood last month, police said.
Jesus Carbonell, 51, and Zdenek Jelen, 49, are facing a number of charges that include kidnapping and robbery, Miami-Dade jail records showed. Jennifer Montenegro, 33, also faces a strongarm robbery charge.
Miami Police officials said the crime spree began on Oct. 26, when a victim who was tending to his vehicle that was broken down near Southwest 27th Avenue and Southwest 26th Street, was confronted by Carbonell and Montenegro, who snatched his cellphone and demanded money for its return.
The victim handed over $40 to get the phone back, but later realized his gold chain wasn't around his neck anymore, an arrest report said.
Then, on Oct. 28, Carbonell and another man stole eight cases of beer from a supermarket at 3015 Northwest 7th Street, police said.
The next day, Oct. 29, a man was walking home from a party near Southwest 18th Avenue and 2nd Street when he was confronted by Carbonell, who got out of a dark green colored SUV Chevrolet Tahoe, armed with a firearm, and demanded that he enter the SUV, police said.
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Once inside, the man was robbed of his cell phone and wallet, which contained his bank card. Carbonell and Jelen, who was driving, drove the man to an ATM where he was forced to make a withdrawal, police said. The suspects then dropped the victim off near 19th Avenue.
On Oct. 30, Carbonell identified himself as a police officer and demanded a victim to put his hands up in the air and forced him into the backseat of the same dark green colored SUV Chevrolet Tahoe, which was occupied by an unknown female, police said.
While inside the vehicle, the victim was robbed of some cash, his cellphone and bank cards, and was driven around while the suspects used his credit cards, police said.
Police said cell phone video that showed the Tahoe's license plate helped detectives track down Carbonell.
Detectives believe Carbonell and Jelen have victimized more people who haven't come forward, and are asking anyone with information to call them at 305-603-6370.
"Mr. Carbonell has a history from 1994 of possession of cocaine, robbery, strong arm robbery, resisting arrest, fleeing from the police. We need the victims, the victims who have been afraid to come forward, to come forward because we need to keep them behind jail," Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega said.
