MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A state trooper iced a South Florida duo’s crime wave as they tried to get away with a stolen trailer full of frozen poultry, according to an arrest report.
The suspects are now facing two felonies in Miami-Dade County after being taken into custody.
The report states that an undercover Florida Highway Patrol trooper was following a semi-truck that “had previously been identified as being utilized in the commission of thefts involving semi-trucks and cargo-laden trailers throughout the state,” eventually stopping in the 3900 block of North 28th Terrace in Hollywood.
Troopers said the driver, Adrian Teruel, stopped next to another driver’s truck parked on the side of the road, got inside the cab, unhitched its trailer full of frozen chicken, and drove the victim’s truck a block away, then came back to the unhitched trailer and latched it onto his own truck.
Teruel, 33, of southwest Miami-Dade, then drove off, troopers said.
According to the report, the FHP trooper followed behind and noticed that someone else was following the truck, too. Troopers said that Angel Basart Peraza, 50, of Homestead, was driving behind Teruel in a white GMC Sierra and acting as a scout vehicle.
The trooper followed the duo to the area of Northwest 26th Street and 74th Avenue, near Miami International Airport, and saw Teruel get out as he “conducted a visual inspection of the stolen semi-trailer, appearing to search for concealed GPS tracking devices” while Basart Peraza helped him, the report states.
But the duo apparently didn’t catch on to the fact that they were being tracked by a human instead: one with a badge, a gun and handcuffs.
Authorities said Teruel and Basart Peraza, both wearing gloves, were taken into custody “without incident.”
Troopers said the stolen trailer was worth about $90,000 and the stolen chicken inside was worth about $100,000.
Teruel and Basart Peraza, meanwhile, were each given a $15,000 bond on charges of grand theft cargo and grand theft of a vehicle, according to jail records.
Both were being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Tuesday evening; records show Teruel faces additional holds on two out-of-county warrants and from the U.S. Marshals Service.
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