BSO Nabs Water Requesting Would-Be Thief
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBSMiami.com) – A burglary suspect in the Royal Palm Isles community thought a simple request for water would help him pull off his crime, instead it ended up giving him a one-way ticket to jail.
The alleged would-be robber, Ronald Naves, 19, and a juvenile suspect, went to a home and asked for a man named, "Joe." When the victim said no one named "Joe" lived at the address, Naves allegedly asked for a glass of water, according to the arrest report.
Naves then allegedly tried to rip a gold bracelet off of the victim.
"He grabbed under my bracelet like that, and I pulled; and that's when I broke the bracelet, the clasp broke," said the 79-year-old victim who asked CBS4 not to identify him.
According to the victim, Naves tried to push him into the bushes and charge into the house, but he was stopped.
"He started to step into the doorway and my friend pushed him and said 'Get the hell out of here,' that's when he started running," the victim said. "I got up out of the bushes, I'm running down the street chasing him, screaming."
As the victim was chasing Naves, neighbors came out and gave chase as well while some called 911.
"Honestly, I couldn't believe the lungs on the age of that man," said neighbor Anastasia McDonell. "The volume that came out of that little old guy was really impressive."
The neighbors helped police find Naves and the other suspect. Neighbors spotted the would-be thief's swimming across a canal to get away and lead detectives right to them.
"It was very scary afterwards," the victim said. "When it was happening, I would have killed him if I could have."
Naves told BSO that he and the juvenile were returning from a family member's house and said that they had decided to walk back to their home in Lauderdale Lakes when police caught them. The juvenile also said he was on juvenile probation.
Naves faces charges of burglary with assault or battery, resisting an officer, battery on a person 65 or older, and a weapons charge.
