Miami-Dade police are investigating the possible abduction of a woman who was shoved into a van by a man Monday evening.
“I hear screaming,” said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified. “She’s saying in Spanish, 'Help me.'"
The neighbor who lives near Southwest 99th Avenue says around 6:30 that evening he was out jogging when he saw a woman screaming for help then being pushed inside a van.
“She said the guy’s name so I had no idea if this was a couple or something so I didn’t step in cause I didn’t know if the guy had a gun,” he said. “I didn’t know if there was somebody else in the van or anything. It happened so quick.”
Police say the possible abduction happened outside a home on SW 99th Avenue. The incident was caught on a neighbor’s Ring camera.
“First thing I did was I called the cops,” said the unidentified neighbor. “I was in shock, couldn’t do anything at the moment. It happened so quick. Five seconds I turn around, and the girl’s in the car.”
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Surveillance video shows a man approaching a woman who backs away.
Police say words were exchanged then the video shows the man forcefully shoving her into a burgundy van.
“This was not something that she was a willing participant of,” said Detective Argemis Colome. “We’re treating it as an abduction for now.”
Julia Rodriguez and her grandson live across the street and say they heard yelling outside.
“We saw a lot of policeman, but we didn’t know what’s happening,” Rodriguez said.
“I saw the van, the color of the van and the guy running around to the driver seat,” said Mel Viote, a neighbor. “I heard yelling, that’s why I came over here. I was playing a game and I heard yelling. I thought it was from the game, but it was from them. So, I looked out and the van just pulled away when I came.”
The unidentified neighbor who called 911 says besides the burgundy van seen in the video, police also need to be on the lookout for the suspect’s tattoo.
“The guy had a tattoo covering his right side of his shoulder down to his bicep,” he said.
“They need to catch him,” he said. “They need to catch him ASAP.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Police or Miami-Dade CrimeStoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
