MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man who was held at gunpoint and threatened inside a Miami-Dade mobile home managed to escape and run to a nearby Family Dollar for help — leading deputies to arrest a woman now accused of orchestrating the ambush with at least one armed accomplice.
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Deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff‘s Office said the victim told them he was “held against his will,” tied up, and threatened with guns by several suspects — including Helen Arias-Lima, 26, and a man later identified as John Luis Torres-Rodriguez, 20.
The incident began the evening of April 9 when the victim visited Arias-Lima at her home in a mobile home park located in the 7600 block of Northwest 27th Avenue, near Miami-Dade’s Gladeview neighborhood.
According to the report, the victim said he had only met Arias-Lima once before and knew her only by her first name.
While inside the residence, deputies said the victim noticed items missing from his messenger bag. When he confronted Arias-Lima, he said several men entered the home — two of them armed, the report stated.
The victim told deputies the men tied his hands and feet, threatened his life, and demanded the password to his phone and PIN to his credit card.
Arias-Lima stayed in the room during the ordeal and “shushed” the victim as he cried and pleaded for the suspects to let him go, investigators said.
Detectives said the victim remained tied up for an extended period of time.
At one point, they said he was left alone and managed to free himself. He then ran to the Family Dollar at 2137 NW 79th St. and asked employees to call 911 around 9:30 p.m. on April 9, according to the report.
They said the case was eventually turned over to the MDSO’s Robbery Bureau, where investigators began identifying suspects.
Detectives said the victim identified Arias-Lima in a photo lineup.
Investigators said they also developed evidence linking Torres-Rodriguez to the case, though his specific charges have not yet been released.
On Wednesday, at around 9:50 p.m., deputies said Arias-Lima was taken into custody near her home in connection with an unrelated prostitution investigation.
She was then interviewed at MDSO’s Northside District station, where she denied having any involvement in the robbery or imprisonment of the victim.
Despite her denial, deputies said there was enough probable cause to arrest her.
Jail records show Arias-Lima is facing one count each of armed robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon and false imprisonment with a deadly weapon.
As of Friday, she is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where her bond is listed as “to be set.”
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
