New victims of accused serial porch pirate come forward, with total number now at 10, Miami police say
Seven more victims of an alleged porch pirate in the Model City area have come forward, bringing the total number of cases against the suspected thief, Jeyner Francisco Monzon, to 10.
City of Miami Police Spokesperson Mike Vega said the investigation began after a single person reported a package stolen in April and provided surveillance video. That video showed Monzon stuffing packages into a bag. CBS Miami aired the footage, along with surveillance from Shanika Brown, who lives several blocks away and also appeared to capture the same man.
"Everybody can't replace the items that you're taking because you don't know what they had to do to get them," Brown said.
In May, officers in the Model City area spotted the suspect and made an arrest.
"Our officers in the Model City area saw this man and said that looks like that's the guy that was stealing the packages, and they took him down, arrested him, bring him to the station," Vega said.
Following the initial reports and arrest, more victims who had not previously filed police reports came forward. Vega emphasized that every case is critical.
"Now we got 10 cases," Vega said. "When a judge looks at this and says, 'Oh, this guy is a serial porch pirate, ' he's more likely to keep them in jail because they're afraid that he's going to come out and do the same thing again."
The stolen items included women's clothing, rock climbing equipment, and dog toys.
Valentina Osorio, one of the victims, recounted her experience: "All the family was inside the house, and I just checked the cameras because I was waiting for my package for that day from Amazon, and when I watched the video, I just saw the younger guy stealing my package from my door," she said.
Since the thefts, several victims have installed lock boxes for their packages, and one homeowner reported plans to install a fence.
Miami police continue to stress the importance of home security footage in these cases. "It's also good to always have video cameras," Vega said. "That gave us the perfect evidence that we needed to charge them."