Dade SWAT Called To Goulds Gas Station Robbery
GOULDS (CBS4) – Miami-Dade police called out the Special Response Team early Tuesday morning after a gas station in Goulds was robbed.
Arriving officers evacuated the Valero gas station, at SW 216th Street and SW 112th Avenue, along with a number of homes located behind it. Two schools in the area, Mays Middle School and Pine Villa Elementary, were placed on a precautionary lockdown.
Police spokesman Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said 38-year old Albban Buntin walked into the station and asked the female clerk behind the counter for some basic items. As she turned to get them, he said "give me the cash." He then reportedly told the clerk he had a gun.
"If you don't give me all the money I'll shoot you," was what Buntin told the clerk, according to Zabaleto.
He then reported jumped behind the counter.
"There was a struggle, an altercation, then he took all of the cash and fled southbound," said Zabaleto.
Officers found Buntin running south on 112th Avenue, according to Zabaleto, and refused to go quietly.
"The subject was 'tazed' and as a result of that he has some minor head injuries," said Zabaleta.
No weapon, however, was recovered.
The department's Special Response Team was called in after there were unconfirmed reports that a second suspect may have tried to hide in the gas station's cooler.
High above the scene, Chopper4 spotted several SRT members with guns trained on the front door of the gas station. Two other SRT members were observed looking into an open doorway on the side of the station. Around 10 a.m., the SRT moved in and searched the store, aisle by aisle and the cooler but did not find a second suspect.
The school lockdown was lifted just after 11:30 a.m.
Zabaleto said Buntin has a record which includes at least one felony conviction and he was currently on probation.
