By: Sharon Aron Baron
Thanks to a an alert security surveillance company, BSO deputies were able to smoke out a cigar burglary in progress over the weekend.
For the second time since July when the same Tamarac cigar warehouse was broken into, these crooks had shimmied up a tree and rappelled down the building with a rope where BSO deputies interrupted the caper, and the burglars left with no cigars.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies caught up to one of the criminals and charged him with burglary and possession of burglary tools.
It’s unclear if it was the same group who burglarized the business on July 26. In that incident, the thieves made off with $500,000 in cigars and spent about two hours loading 700 cases into three vehicles in the middle of the night.
BSO deputies, alerted by the security company watching surveillance cameras, approached the building just after 3:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. They saw a white Ford van speed away. The occupants ran from deputies, but Hermes Perez, 30, of Miami eventually surrendered. Three accomplices remain at large. Deputies found a sheet metal saw and extra blades in the van, which had been reported stolen out of Miami. The men used the saw to cut through a garage door after failing to access the warehouse through the roof, but they were interrupted by deputies. They left the rope at the scene.
Anyone with information about this crime can report information anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Broward county at (954) 493-(TIPS) 8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.
