Medley Cafeteria Owner Thwarts Burglary
MEDLEY (CBS4) – A Medley restaurant owner who works hard for his money fought back after two men tried to steal a bag of cash from him.
It happened last Thursday behind the Super Cafeteria on 74th Street west of the Palmetto Expressway. Around 12:30 p.m. a black Ford Expedition backed up next to a car which belongs to the business' owner Pablo Margolles. A surveillance camera behind the business captured what happened next.
On the video, the driver can be seen reaching into a center console and retrieving a silver-colored hand gun. The other man then gets out of the SUV and goes to Margolles car. There he punctures a rear tire and then smashed a rear window with a small hammer, the kind usually sold to break windows in case a vehicle is submerged in water.
Just as he reached in to grab a bag of money inside the car, Margolles charged him.
Margolles said he didn't think twice about stopping the man who broke into his car.
"I saw the man outside by my car and I had to do something. I tried to capture him, I fought him, but he got away," said Margolles.
After struggling with the man for seconds, the would-be thief ran away with nothing.
"This is terrible what he tried to do. I wasn't going to allow this to happen. I wanted to protect what cash I had. I work hard for my money. They shouldn't be doing this," said Margolles.
The man's partner then sped off in the SUV.
"His reaction was to actually go after the bad guys, nobody else would have done that," said Margolles' granddaughter Eileen Diaz. "It shocked me that he would have done something like that."
Police want to get these guys off the street fast.
"They are armed. We believe they are dangerous. We thank God this didn't end differently, They need to be caught," said Medley police Detective Natalie Buissereth.
Police believe the cafeteria was targeted but haven't said much beyond that.
