Thief Obsessed With Rolexes Busted Again
Robber facing 25 years for central Florida wristwatch stealing spree
By BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 9:30 AM EST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009
A Rolex-infatuated Florida man is about to learn his fate for stealing eight of the pricey watches worth as much as $50,000 a piece up in Orlando.
To say Leonardo Perez is obsessed with the luxury Swiss timepieces is an understatement. The 36-year-old career criminal from Miami sports a Rolex logo tattoo on his left arm, a permanent devotion to the company.
After a 17-year prison stint in South Florida for stealing Rolexes, Perez moved a little north and started a new robbing spree. In a period of four months in 2007, Perez robbed eight people at gunpoint of their pricey watches, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Perez would spot people wearing the watches in public, follow them home and hold a gun to their head as he relieved them of their wristwatches.
Police said he could spot the gold watches from several yards away, and his pursuit of the almightly Rolex was something they had never seen.
"In all of the crimes I have investigated, I have never had a case where the suspect was so focused and determined on a single item," Orange County sheriff's Cpl. Rob Branch told the Sentinel. "We know he did the occasional common robbery for quick cash or gas, but when it came to Rolexes, he became as focused and as hyped up as a professional athlete would before a big game."
Perez plead guilty and is facing 25 years for the dangerous robberies. He was scheduled to be sentenced yesterday, but it was delayed.
First Published: Nov 6, 2009 9:10 AM EST
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