MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Two boys, ages 14 and 11, were arrested Sunday night after they burglarized a home in Miami Beach, authorities said.
According to an arrest report, police were called to the 2500 block of Alton Road about 10:40 p.m. about a group of four children possibly casing vehicles.
Police said the kids were riding bicycles in the middle of the street and took off running when an officer activated his emergency lights.
The 11-year-old dropped a book bag he was carrying, which contained items that were stolen from a nearby home, the report said.
The 11-year-old was found running on the Julia Tuttle Causeway and the 14-year-old was arrested after being spotted leaving a home on North Bay Road, police said.
"It's unbelievable. These kids should be in summer programs. They should be working somewhere," Roy Rodriguez, who found some of the boys hiding in his bushes, said. "I started yelling at the police, 'They're over here, they're over here!' And then the police started chasing after them."
Officers said the younger boy spontaneously told them that he "barely did anything" when they broke into a home on Alton Road earlier.
Police said the boy had multiple stolen items in his possession, including $200 in cash, a debit card, checkbooks and an iPhone 3.
Detectives went to the victim's home that was listed on the checkbook and found that his rear door had been forced open and his home was ransacked.
Police said the master bedroom closet and balcony door had also been forcefully opened with a pick axe and gardening tool.
Police said the boys stole $9,900 worth of jewelry and electronics from the home.
A woman who lives next door to the victim told Local 10 News reporter Erica Rakow that she saw the group acting suspiciously after she got home from the grocery store Sunday afternoon.
She said they were hiding behind one of her bushes and told her that they were new to the area, asked her whether she had any dogs and if she could bring them out water.
"I said, 'Yes, I have two dogs. They are big and you have to be careful. Just stay here at the door and I'll bring the water," the woman said. "Then around 6 (p.m.) I saw them crossing Alton Road, but I never thought they were trying to walk in on the neighbor's house."
The boys were taken to the police station and gave written statements about their involvement in the burglary, the report said.
Both boys face charges of third-degree grand theft, resisting an officer without violence and burglary.
Anyone with information about the two other boys possibly involved in the burglary is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.