Surveillance video shows the business burglary and SUV theft in Broward that led to a cross-county police chase that ended outside Miami International Airport with a suspect in custody Wednesday morning.
The burglary happened Tuesday night at Wilson Window Tinting on State Road 7 in Margate.
Surveillance video obtained by NBC6 showed the suspect arriving at the business in a car and using some sort of large object to bust through a window at the building.
The suspect then cased the shop, taking computers, tools, batteries and more before loading them into the owner's Chevy Tahoe.
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“A mess. He ransacked through everything," owner Joe Basto told NBC6. "The funny part is, I just filled the Tahoe up last night."
The suspect took off in the Tahoe, which was spotted in Miramar Wednesday morning by a detective assigned to auto crimes.
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The detective requested a Broward Sheriff's Office helicopter to assist, and the helicopter tracked the SUV as it crossed multiple jurisdictions and made its way into Miami-Dade County, officials said.
Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed the SUV being followed by police down Northwest 54th Street as it weaved in and out of traffic. The driver then got on a congested Interstate 95 and then to State Road 122 headed west to the airport.
The driver sped through traffic then took one of the exits toward MIA with police cruisers close behind.
The footage showed the SUV stop outside the airport's Terminal E, where officers moved in and took the driver into custody.
Miami-Dade Police said the suspect was taken into custody without incident. He was later identified as 57-year-old Walter L. Griggs.
Griggs was facing charges including grand theft of a vehicle and fleeing and eluding police, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
Basto said about $20,000 worth of tools and window tinting materials were inside the stolen Tahoe, which he's hoping to recover.
"He had the vehicle for a long time. He could have made several stops. We’ll see when they tell us to come get the vehicle," Basto said.
Basto also had a message for the thief.
"We’re trying to make a living here and this guy comes in here does us bad. I mean, we can barely work today," he said. "Go get a job. Period. Just go get a job."
