Caught on Camera: Thieves steal South Florida dance company’s van

COOPER CITY, Fla. – A Cooper City dance company’s van was stolen right from the front of the business and it was all caught on camera.

Surveillance video shows the moment the thieves broke into the van in front of the Dancer’s Gallery along Flamingo Road on Sunday at 5 a.m. and drove off.

Eric Ubiera owns Dancers Gallery.

“We just want our van back so we can pick up our kids and keep doing out business,” he said.

It’s a colorful van with many different dancers in the artwork. Ubiera says it’s worth about $25,000.

“It’s wrapped for our studio, so it’s pretty obvious it belongs to a dance studio,” he said.

Thieves are caught on camera stealing a dance company's van

The thieves left behind a white trailer nearby that contained all of the props for the team, so thankfully they were able to attend a competition in West Palm Beach later on Sunday

“They took the van and the trailer, and they took it to the other side of the parking lot, left the trailer there and took the van,” Ubiera said.

After logging onto his toll account, Ubiera knows the thieves went south.

“It alerted me that they used it on the Golden Glades Interchange and State Road 112 going west,” he said.

For now, the studio will have to rent a van in order to pick up children that are in the studio’s after school program.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.


About the Authors:

Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

Bridgette Matter joined the Local 10 News team as a reporter in July 2021. Before moving to South Florida, she began her career in South Bend, Indiana and spent six years in Jacksonville as a reporter and weekend anchor.