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Exclusive: Surveillance Shows "Methodical" South Miami Car Burglar

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SOUTH MIAMI (CBSMiami) – New surveillance tape shows a burglar ransacking vehicles at a car repair shop this past weekend and South Miami's police chief says he hopes he'll be captured before he strikes again.

"Either he's done this so many times it doesn't matter or he really doesn't care," said South Miami Police Chief Rene Landa in an exclusive interview with CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "When you're brazen, you don't really care. We need to take him off the street before he hits another place."

Landa is speaking out as CBS4 has obtained the surveillance tape and a BOLO, a be-on-the-lookout bulletin, of the suspect.

Landa said the burglar jumped over a security fence at Mike's Beamer Shop at 5856 S.W. 68th St. at 11:30 p.m. Sunday and ransacked four BMWs and a Mini Cooper. It's not known how many items were taken.

Carlos Garcia, the manager of the shop, and the owner of the business have studied the surveillance tape.

"It's despicable," Garcia told D'Oench. "He just comes in and he doesn't care. I just want him to be caught. It's ridiculous. It makes you wonder if he's from town or if he knows he's going to be doing it on weekends and will be gone after the weekend and will have left town. "

Landa said the burglar is about 5-foot 10-inches tall, 180 pounds and is in his 30s or 40s. He also has a pointy nose and is in no hurry.

"What's weird about this one is this man takes his time," says Landa. "He is methodical. He very slowly looks into vehicles and then the other thing is he even looks up at the camera and throws a gesture at the camera and then continues to get closer to the camera as the video shows him getting closer to the car."

The burglar even appears to be gentle as he carefully and slowly closes the trunk of one car.

"It looks like his forte is breaking into cars," says Landa. "Breaking into cars is big in this county. It's been that way for the past three to four years. He may have been going into residential neighborhoods, trying door handles and breaking into cars and stealing things. This person very methodically and very slowly looks into the cars. He opens up the trunks and takes his time looking into the trunks and seeing what items are there. This is a crime that usually takes 20 to 30 seconds a car and as people typically come in and take change and GPS devices and sunglasses and other valuable items."

Garcia wants your help.

"Call the police. Obviously he is going around doing the same thing to other people and he doesn't care."

South Miami police said the burglar fled in an unknown direction. They are trying to find out if he has victimized other businesses or homes in other areas of their city or other areas of South Florida.

Anyone who can help should call South Miami Police at (305) 663-6301 or Miami-Dade Police at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).

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