Thief takes $6,000 from northeast Miami-Dade store owner’s car

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was caught on camera breaking into a northeast Miami-Dade store owner’s car and taking off with an envelope full of cash — and it all happened right under the victim’s nose.

It happened outside of Ju’s 1 Dream 99 Cent Store, located in the area of Northeast 146th Street and Dixie Highway. The store is named after owner Tony Antoine’s daughter.

Antoine shared surveillance video taken at around 11:20 a.m. Monday. It shows what looks like a gray car parked on the street. A man in a white T-shirt gets out, walks over to Antoine’s SUV and opens the passenger door.

The thief ignored a book bag on the floor, the keys and the cellphone in the seat and went straight for an envelope full of cash: $6,000 worth.

Antoine says he ran some errands earlier that morning, including making a bank run. He says he made a withdrawal from the Wells Fargo at Northeast 127th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, less than two miles from the store.

Ten minutes later, Antoine was back at the store, getting some help unloading merchandise from the back of his SUV. People were all around and that thief pulled the heist off anyway.

“Just the envelope they grabbed (and) left,” he said. “When he was coming (to) the car, you could see him talking on the phone, just like, talking on the phone. When he opened the door, he just grabbed the envelope and hung up, just like he said, ‘Yes, I got it.’”

Antoine is confident whoever this was followed him from the bank to commit the crime.

Miami-Dade police have the report and they are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.