A pair of real-life Christmas Grinches are behind bars in Miami-Dade after police say they stole about $10,000-worth of packages from the front porch of a home.
Victoria Lopez and Gerardo Luis Benedit, both 20, are facing grand theft charges following their arrests Monday night, according to Miami-Dade Police arrest affidavits.
Lopez was being held on $26,000 bond Wednesday, while Benedit was being held on $31,000 bond, jail records showed. It was unknown whether they have attorneys.
According to the affidavits, the two were seen on surveillance video and spotted by a witness taking delivery boxes from the front door of a home in the 3300 block of Southwest 140th Avenue Monday morning.
The witness ordered them to stop and drop the box but the two took off in their car, the affidavits said. The alert witness was able to get the license plate number of the car they fled the scene in, police said.
Using the number, police tracked the couple down and initiated a traffic stop. Officers found Benedit sitting in the car with the victim's property on his lap, the affidavits said.
Detectives said Benedit was caught "red-footed," wearing the victim's stoeln pair of Air Jordans.
"He actually lifted up his foot and he said, 'Oh these, these are the shoes that I stole,'" said Miami-Dade Police Detective Romelio Martinez.
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Some of the stolen goods recovered included electronics, toys, watches and other items, police said. The two hit about 50 homes, according to authorities.
Police said the dup started running its scam just after Cyber Monday. Their strategy was to follow delivery trucks, make sure no one was home and then make their move.
