DORAL, Fla. – Two men are facing charges after they targeted customers at banks in an attempt to steal their money, police said.
Cesar Castillo Vargas, 36, and Hernan Trujillo, 46, were arrested Feb. 26 on charges of loitering or prowling, criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools and displaying or possessing false identification.
According to detectives, the pair typically targeted women and elderly people as they withdrew money at the bank. Police said the men would puncture a tire on the victims' cars, then pull up to the car as the victim started to drive away and offer help to fix the flat tire.
Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Robin Pinkard said the men were arrested last week while detectives were investigating an unrelated incident in the area of Northwest 25th Street and 107th Avenue in Doral.
According to an arrest report, a detective saw one of the men puncture a woman's tire while she was inside a Bank of America branch.
After withdrawing $1,100, the woman got back into her car and drove away with the suspects following closely, the report said.
Detectives said the men got stuck in traffic, but drove onto the sidewalk at one point in an attempt to get closer to the woman's car.
The detective who saw the initial incident also followed the woman and told her to pull over at Southwest 132nd Avenue and Eighth Street. He asked her whether she was aware that she was being followed, and she said no.
The detective pulled over the men nearby and was given a Colombian ID with the name Fernando Rodriguez Pardo and a Mexican ID with the name Victor Flores Ruiz.
According to the report, the men claimed that they were at Dolphin Mall and had gotten lost.
Detectives said the dates of birth given by the men did not match up with the IDs, and their true identities were discovered after they were fingerprinted.
Police said a screwdriver, a wrench, a window punch, hollow metal sharp rods and a makeshift sharp puncture tool were found in their car.
They said the car's tag frame also had Velcro placed on it, which allowed easy placement and removal of a fictitious tag.