MEDLEY, Fla. — Police arrested two suspects in a mail theft case in Medley over the weekend.
According to the Medley Police Department, a business owner called police at around 5:15 p.m. Saturday to report that a suspect he had seen stealing mail on Jan. 19 was back again. So too, police said, was a "white commercial work van with a ladder on the roof rack and no commercial markings."
Investigators said a suspect later identified as Yoel Ampudia Hernandez, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, was caught in the act at the warehouse at 7855 NW 77th Ave. as he "was breaking the mailbox locking mechanism with a screwdriver."
Police said that when Ampudia noticed the neighboring business owner, he ran and tossed the screwdriver, later recovered by police. They said the “getaway driver,” identified as Duniel Mederos Veliz, 41, of southwest Miami-Dade, took off as well.
An arrest report states that a Medley police officer saw the van soon after, parked on Northwest South River Drive, “blocking the roadway.”
"I pressed on the horn to get the vehicle to drive and allow time for other units to arrive and assist on a traffic stop," an officer wrote. “The vehicle pressed on the brake and subsequently drove eastbound.”
Police said they pulled over Mederos near Northwest 72nd Avenue. According to the report, an officer saw a can of cold Modelo beer wrapped in a paper bag in the cupholder. During a vehicle search, police said they also found a Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in the center console, unlocked and accessible.
According to police, Mederos claimed the gun belonged to Ampudia, who owned the van. Police said Mederos called Ampudia to tell him that he was being detained and to come to the scene; he did.
Authorities said the business owner later did a show-up to identify Ampudia as the thief.
“That’s him,” he said, according to the report. “100%, that’s him.”
Police said that during the interview, Ampudia, who “displayed an arrogant and challenging demeanor throughout,” told an officer that he “unable to arrest him because (he) did not have the evidence” ― the mail.
“After explaining the evidence, I asked him if he was having a financial crisis or compelling reason for committing these crimes,” the officer wrote. “Ampudia Hernandez said that he did not want to speak further with me.”
Police said Mederos “also said that he did not do anything wrong.”
Cops arrested the duo on an assortment of charges and said they notified the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Ampudia’s charges include burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of burglary tools and petit theft, while Mederos faces a more serious charge of armed burglary, as well as a count of possession of a weapon while committing an offense.
Both were being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Monday morning, with bonds listed as “to be set” in online records.
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