Couple Bound, Beaten During Hialeah Home Invasion
HIALEAH (CBSMiami) - A violent robbery inside a Hialeah home has put an entire neighborhood on edge.
The victims are an elderly couple who own a convenience store.
Herminia Jimenez, who lives at the home near E. 8th Avenue and E. 45th Street, stepped into the back area of the house around 5:30 a.m. Monday to do laundry when a man came in through the backyard, pointed a gun at her head and ordered her to take him to her husband. The robbery was quick and the criminal got away with more than $10,000 in cash.
The robber beat homeowner Joaquin Valdes, leaving behind blood and bruises on his head, his ear, and his arms. He told CBS4's Natalia Zea in Spanish, that the man told him he wanted cash or he would kill him.
Jimenez said she was terrified and shaking when one moment she was simply doing her laundry and the next she had a gun to her head, a man threatening her life. She said didn't scream because he said he would shoot her. The man bound and gagged them with blue painters' tape.
Neighbors saw Jimenez run out of the home once the man had left.
"She was taped on her mouth and on her hands and she was crying," said Ivy Morejon.
Valdes said the man, who had his face covered, knew that he had planned to deposit the money in the bank on Monday. The couple owns a nearby convenience store and they believe whoever robbed them knew they had the cash.
Valdes said he believes that because this isn't the first time this has happened to the couple at their home. Last year someone got away with $35,000 in cash and they were robbed again before that.
Police have not caught anyone for this robbery or the others, and though Valdes put in a security system here, he says it won't help investigators because the cameras are broken.
Valdes told Zea despite being victimized 3 times, he has no plans to move. He said in Spanish, "Why would I move? This (house) is mine. Where would I go?"
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