Police have arrested a man who they said followed a woman off an elevator at a Coral Gables high-rise, pushed his way inside her home and then exposed himself to her.
Evert Andres Esquivel Pichardo, 31, was arrested Wednesday in the incident that happened last month at the Life Time high-rise luxury apartments, Coral Gables Police said.
Surveillance footage showed the moment the man — dressed in a baseball cap, a long sleeve shirt and black pants — followed a woman, whose identity is being protected, off an elevator before doubling back and then forcing her into her apartment and knocking her down.
When the woman sees him, he confronts her, pushes her down to ground and exposes himself.
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At one point, the victim was able to get back up on her feet and call for help. That’s when the suspect took off running.
Police released the surveillance footage Wednesday, and announced Thursday that Esquivel Pichardo had been arrested.
According to an arrest report, surveillance footage showed the suspect fleeing in a vehicle registered to Esquivel Pichardo.
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A photo of Esquivel Pichardo from a previous arrest also matched the surveillance images, the report said. The victim also chose Esquivel Pichardo out of a photo lineup as the man behind the incident, according to the report.
Police said Esquivel Pichardo was employed by a company that services the building's parking garages, and had used his employee key access card to exit the garage at the same time the suspect's vehicle exited.
Esquivel Pichardo faces charges of burglary with assault or battery and indecent exposure. Attorney information wasn't available.
The attack was fresh on the minds of some residents who said more needs to be done to keep incidents like this from happening again.
"I’m walking all the time during the day and I don’t feel safe here at all," resident Alexis Scherago said Wednesday. "I bought pepper spray so I’m going to have that with me at all times."
Helene Gagliardi works out at the gym in the building five days a week
"Even me going home at night, it’s something that I think about when I plan my workout and my hours and with full work days, there’s not a lot around it," she said. "My heart goes out to that woman."
