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On December 6, 2019 Officer Gabriel Guerra (10606) volunteered to adjust his normal working hours to work the "2019 Holiday Season Operation Plan," which was created to provide increased coverage and visibility to deter criminals, interrupt crime patterns, and keep people safe while protecting their property during the holiday shopping season. Officer Guerra was assigned to a task force which payed attention to several focus crimes, which included residential burglaries because many residents travel during the holidays, leaving their homes vacant for long periods of time which presents an opportunity for criminals to commit burglaries and thefts. At 1320 hours, dispatched received a call reference 2 subjects seen running from a home located at 19 Alcantarra Ave, in which the homeowner said she heard a window break in a backyard then saw the subjects trying to break into her home before they ran off. Another witness, who is a neighbor, observed them flee in a white vehicle towards Ponce De Leon Blvd. Upon hearing the BOLO, Officer Guerra anticipated that the vehicle would try to flee into the City of Miami jurisdiction, so he began to canvass eastbound on SW 8th Street from Douglas Rd. He then observes a white Chevy Malibu occupied by 5 young males inside, which matched the description. Officer Guerra conducts a traffic stop for failure to use a tum signal when the vehicle made a right tum from 8th St onto SW 22"d Ave. He questioned the driver as to his previous whereabouts and the driver initially stated he just picked up two of his passengers and they were playing basketball at Robert King High Park. In the meantime, officers were able to obtain still video photos from a ring doorbell camera from next door resident at 15 Alcantarra Ave, which matched the front passenger and one of the rear passengers. A show-up was conducted with 2 different witnesses who positively identified one of the offenders along with the white Chevy Malibu they fled in. All 5 individuals in the vehicle were then transported to CGPD for further questioning. A search of the vehicle incident to arrest revealed a black pellet gun in the front right passenger door jam. Crime Scene responded and impound several items including cash, jewelry, an iPad, video games, and a video game console which was later discovered to be property stole from a residential burglary that same day from the City of Miami. (1912060091302) Post Miranda, the offender who was identified by witnesses, admitted he and the other juvenile offender attempted to burglarize the home at 19 Alcantarra Av and broke the window in the backyard City of Miami burglary detectives responded to CGPD reference their resident burglaries. Two of the other offenders where questioned and arrested linking them to their incident and they were charged with burglary to an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft. Officer Guerra has shown dedication to his job by volunteering to adjust his normal work hours and work a task force. Then upon hearing a burglary in progress call, without being prompted, he began to canvass the surrounding jurisdiction, knowing the offenders would attempt to get away by fleeing our city. Using the information disseminated from the BOLO he was able to locate and stop the vehicle with the offenders. Because of Officer Guerra's commitment and swift action, we were able to stop and apprehend burglars who not only victimized our residents but also residents of a neighboring jurisdiction, resulting in the closure of two burglary cases and possibly prevented other serious or violent crimes. Officer Gabriel Guerra's devotion, attentiveness and determination for this incident should be recognized and that is why I am nominating him Officer of the Month for December 2019. |