A loss prevention officer at a North Miami Beach Target was arrested last month after police say he stole a customer's phone while on the job — and it's not the first time he's been in trouble for stealing.
Glauce Oliveira was shopping at Target on Biscayne Boulevard on Dec. 5 when she placed her iPhone down. Minutes later, it was gone.
She asked Christopher Rodriguez, who was working as a loss prevention officer at the time, if he had seen her phone. He told her no one turned in a missing phone.
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Oliveira spoke with NBC6 Thursday with her son who helped translate.
"They asked weird questions, they acted like it wasn't there, they were asking if her password was hard, if they had Apple Pay,” Oliveira said.
Oliveira went home and used the Find My iPhone app. She ultimately tracked her phone to an address associated with the 32-year-old Rodriguez.
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"She called police because the website told her the man lived there and that she was sure it was him,” Oliveira’s son said.
According to the arrest report, an officer and Target's loss prevention manager reviewed the surveillance footage and Rodriguez "was seen locating the phone on a shelf in aisle five." The report said he was then "observed switching off the phone and concealing it in his hoodie pocket. He did not turn in the phone to the Target lost and found or report the found phone to any superior.”
Oliveira was at the store when police arrested Rodriguez.
"Christopher told the police he didn't have the phone and he told someone to get rid of it,” Oliveira said.
Online records show police have arrested Rodriguez for grand theft before — in 2011 by Coral Gables Police and in 2018 by Miami-Dade Police. He was on probation for six months for the 2018 case. The 2011 case was closed later that year.
Oliveira said she doesn't understand how someone with his history was allowed to work as a loss prevention officer.
“She said it's not normal for a security guard to be a robber, a thief,” Oliveira’s son said.
Oliveira has searched for her phone but hasn't had any luck. She said Target reached out to her Thursday afternoon, telling her they would send her a check for her missing phone. She's not satisfied.
"She wanted sorry and she wanted Target to change the employees so she felt safe to shop at that same Target again,” Oliveira’s son said.
Target told NBC6 in an email this week that Rodriguez doesn't work for the company anymore. NBC6 asked about the check Oliveira said they plan to send her.
Rodriguez is out of jail and back in court Friday morning.
