MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Police on Wednesday arrested two men who led officers on a high-speed chase after robbing a Starbucks in Miami.
The robbery happened at 6815 Biscayne Boulevard about 6:50 a.m. The armed man demanded money from a clerk, who gave him a money bag, according to Miami police. An off-duty firefighter saw him running out of the Starbucks with the bag.
"He went down 79th Street," said police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes said. "We gave chase. Other agencies were involved. We believe that they may be involved in other robberies based on the description of the car."
The suspects drove a white sedan northbound on Interstate 95 for several miles, then merged onto Florida's Turnpike, police said. The chase ended when they crashed their car on the Turnpike near the Golden Glades interchange.
Within seconds, one man got out of the car with a handful of money, video showed. He then darted over the guardrail and across the ramp to a nearby fence.
"Miami-Dade ended up apprehending one. Another one jumped out of the car," said Miami Gardens Police Det. Carlton Coleman.
"I was watching the news -- my sister and I, we were watching the news -- and we saw when one person jumped the fence and I said to my sister, 'It's Miami Gardens. It's right here,'" added Linnette Ellis.
"It was a shock, it was scary, because you didn't know he had a gun," said another woman.
The man then climbed over the fence and into a neighborhood, where he approached a woman who was getting into her car at a home along Northwest 175th Street.
"I saw him coming over the fence and he was hollering, 'Give me your keys! Give me your keys!' and I backed up because I didn't see no weapon in his hand," said Marilyn, who asked Local 10 to withhold her last name. "Both his hands were occupied -- one with money, one with holding up the pants -- so I didn't see a gun, and that's what prompted me to run."
Marilyn ran from the suspect, who then got into the woman's car. He thought he had her keys, but only had her house keys.
Moments later, he sprinted back out into the street and ran along East Sunshine Parkway. It was there that police caught up with him and took him into custody.
"I am so grateful for the presence of mind," said Marilyn. "I'm thankful I didn't fall, I'm thankful he didn't have a gun, and I'm thankful they caught him. I'm so blessed, I really am, because I know it could have happened so many different ways."
The men may have also been involved in three other robberies since the weekend, police said.