The night of Aug. 13, Alejandro Ortiz got the scare of his life right outside his front door.
"I was right there talking on the phone when they jumped out from behind that tree," he said pointing near bushes down the street from his Miami Shores home.
That Tuesday night, detectives said, the men raced down the 300 block of NE 101 St. towards Ortiz; and with their guns out, ordered him to smash his iPhone, and give up his wallet. Ortiz did, and somehow kept his cool.
"I was looking down, and I was telling him, you know? I was trying to relate to him, 'look, man, everything's gonna be cool.'"
The pair tailed Ortiz home, where one thief held a gun to his wife's back as she lied on the floor, while the other forced Ortiz around his own home searching for valuables to steal. The pair didn't make off with much, but Ortiz believes, it was enough.
"$60 in cash, two purses, an iPad, and a computer, really," he said.
Five nights later, another robbery was reported near NE 5th Ave. and NE 95 St.
Miami Shores Police said a couple was in their car in their drive way, when two suspects matching the previous description held them up for their wallet, cell phone, cash and credit cards.
Credit card records traced the card to a purchase at a Caraf Oil gas station several blocks west of the robbery on the 9500 block of NW 7th Ave. Police said surveillance video inside that store may help them track down a person of interest.
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Miami Shores Police Chief Kevin Lystad said his staff are working with nearby El Portal Police on a similar case where two men forced pillowcases on the heads of a family of three, and then robbed them over three hours.
"With these particular subjects, they are armed and extremely dangerous, and you really don't want to have a confrontation with them," Lystad said.
Nearby Biscayne Park Police are working with their peers in Miami Shores and El Portal as well.
On Monday, Biscayne Park detectives announced an arrest in a similar robbery Monday. It is not yet known if he is linked to the other heists.
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami Dade CrimeStoppers with tips at 305-471-8477.
