A man accused of breaking into a Miami elementary school was arrested after police say he was identified with the help of surveillance video.
Anthony Tavares, 20, was arrested Monday on charges including burglary and cannabis possession following the break-in at Dante Fascell Elementary School on Southwest 80th Street, according to an arrest report.
The arrest report said Tavares and three others got into the school through a window the night of Jan. 28. Cameras inside the school allegedly showed Tavares and the other defendants concealing their identities by covering their faces and wearing hoodie jackets, but Tavares was captured on camera with a clear view of his face, the report said.
On Monday, Tavares and a friend went to register at Varella Senior High School and a school official recognized him as one of the alleged burglars of the elementary school, the report said.
"When he goes to school, he goes to sign up for school and they say ‘oh we saw the video and I think it may be him.' It’s not, that’s not an identification," public defender Roy Ugarte said in court Tuesday.
But officials told detectives they also found a bag of marijuana in his shorts. So officers arrested him on the spot.
Tavares told the judge he lives with his grandmother and has no prior criminal record. Tavares was ordered to stay away from the school but the judge allowed him to enter into a special program for first time offenders.
