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Congratulations to Detective Khaled Taha, recipient of the City of Coral Gables “Detective of the Quarter,” for the first quarter of 2025.
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Synopsis: Cases# 25-000147
The Grand Living is an assisted living facility with multiple apartments.
On January 9, 2025, patrol units from the City of Coral Gables Police Department responded to the Grand Living, located at 363 Granello Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33146. Upon arrival, patrol units spoke with Assisted Living Director, who advised that an unknown black male had burglarized multiple apartments and fled the scene. Detective Taha was assigned as the lead detective in this case. Detective Taha responded and made contact with the Assisted Living Director, who advised the offender entered multiple apartments and encountered two victims as he was exiting their apartments. The offender stole a Rolex, and approximately $3,000 in cash from the apartments.
Detective Taha responded and met with the victims and the ALF staff. A witness/caregiverstated that she was alerted by staff members that the offender took the service elevator to the 1st floor and fled through a back entrance of the assisted living facility. The witness stated that she observed the offender exit the building, run across Granello Ave, and cut through a building passageway that leads to Ponce de Leon Blvd. The witness followed the offender and observed the offender sitting on the exterior bench of 4535 Ponce de Leon Blvd. The witness observed the offender enter a black SUV. The witness was able to get a picture of the license plate but could not see who was driving the vehicle. Detective Taha then conducted a thorough area canvas on foot that encompassed multiple blocks surrounding the incident location in an effort to locate video surveillance footage of the offender. It was Detective Taha's relentless effort that produced video surveillance footage of the offender sitting at a bench waiting for the vehicle that picked him up.
Detective Taha began immediately conducting records checks on the vehicle, to determine the registered owner and address of the owner. Detective Taha contacted the Coral Gables CST team to respond to the address registered to the owner of the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle stated he was an Uber driver. Detective Taha's keen investigation skills determined the offender fled via an Uber to the YVE Hotel in the City of Miami. Detective Taha responded to the Uber driver's residence and it was his impeccable interview skills that revealed the offender was opening envelopes that contained the stolen cash while he was in the Uber.
Detective Taha responded to the hotel and was able to retrieve video surveillance footage that showed the offender exiting the Uber and entering the hotel. Detective Taha's relentless search for the offender lead him to review video from prior days in order to identify when the offender originally checked in to the hotel. This led to the identification of the offender via the timestamp on the video coordinating with the front desk's check-in records.
Detective Taha continued to use his boundless resources and identified that the offender flew into Miami from North Carolina the day prior to the burglary. This information proved vital in determining whether the offender was a flight risk. Detective Taha swiftly secured and authored an arrest warrant for the offender. This did not stop Detective Taha from continuing his search for this dangerous offender. Due to Detective Taha's vast collection of contacts from numerous agencies, he was able to identify the offender in 3 City of Miami cases, as well as I in Aventura, wherein he committed similar crimes. Detective Taha's ability to develop a repour, and professional relationship with the manager at the YVE Hotel, led the manager to contact Detective Taha days later and advise him that the offender had checked back into the hotel. Detective Taha, without hesitation, responded to the YVE Hotel, along with City of Miami detectives. Following a brief foot pursuit, the offender was taken into custody. Detective Taha then arrested him for the arrest warrant he had been issued in the City of Coral Gables. Detective Taha's pursuit for justice did not stop there, as he was able to identify the offender in 3 cases out of Franklin County, IN.
Detective Taha's relentless search for justice for these vulnerable victims led to the apprehension of the offender and the closing of 10 cases between the City of Coral Gables, City of Miami, Aventura and Franklin County, IN.