Watch CBS News

Man Accused Of Stealing Car & Hitting People At Miami Hotel

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -  Police arrested a man accused of stealing a high-priced car in front of a Miami hotel and then hitting hotel employees on Wednesday.

Miami Police arrested Alberto Ruiz, 50, who is facing a slew of felony charges including carjacking.

Police said Ruiz was tasered when they were trying to arrest him. He is now in Jackson Memorial Hospital. No word on his condition.

Click here to watch Cynthia Demos' report. 

Ruiz has been arrested numerous times for carjacking, drugs, burglary, second-degree murder, and fleeing cops.

It all happened at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami on the corner of SE 4th Street and Biscayne Boulevard Way.

Miami Hotel Car Theft
Several employees of a downtown Miami hotel were injured after a man stole a high priced car from in front of it. (Source: CBS4)

Around 10:30 a.m. a woman pulled up in a silver Lexus 350 to the valet stand to have them park it. As she was getting out of the car, a man ran up to her.

"A Hispanic male approached her, pushed her out of the way, got into the vehicle and attempted to flee," said Rene Pimentel of Miami Police.

Ruiz allegedly made his get away he hit four hotel employees, most were valet attendants, along with four parked cars.  The car's owner was not injured.

Five of the injured were taken to the hospital. One of those victims remains in serious condition.

"It's certainly is an aggressive move," said hotel guest Jerry Sokol. " I've never heard of this before. Hopefully, this is an extremely isolated incident and doesn't change the way we handle valet in the future."

Police later found the Lexus abandoned at 643 SW 11th Street. Investigators reviewed the security video from in front of the hotel. They said they will release the surveillance video on Thursday.

Police believe Ruiz may have been connected to a similar carjacking at a nearby hotel.

The hotel released a statement on Wednesday's incident saying, "The safety and well being of our guests is always our highest priority.  We are fully cooperating with the authorities."

RELATED CONTENT:

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.