Surveillance Video Captures Burglars Stealing $30K In Drones, Hoverboards
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AVENTURA (CBSMiami) -- Dramatic new surveillance tape shows the lengths some burglars will go to steal drones and hoverboards.
The owner of an Aventura business tells CBS4's Peter D'Oench that it was the 2nd time in the past year that he was victimized.
Jeremy Schneiderman, the owner of Dronenerds on Biscayne Boulevard at 206th St., says the burglars who were dressed in black and wearing masks were captured on video by his five surveillance cameras. He says he finds the images disturbing.
The criminals are seen using a sort of crowbar smashing through the front door of his store and then darting around the store and stealing more than $30,000 worth of drones and hoverboards in less than 10 minutes.
"It's horrible," said Schneiderman. "You are just trying to operate a business like this and this is the second type of robbery in this store in less than a year. It is frustrating. You do everything you can to preserve it and criminals don't care."
"This morning at about 4:30, I had a couple of men using a crow bar on the window," he explained. "They came and stole quite a bit of merchandise from us. When I arrived the police were here and the front door was shattered and there was stuff all over the floor and the drones were on the floor. It appears they came in through the back."
Schneiderman said a similar amount of items were stolen less than a year ago.
Aventura Police say they do not know of a fencing operation of stolen drones and say they are often sold on the street or at pawn shops.
"What we are seeing is that there have been other businesses around the country that have had a string of break-ins," said Schneiderman. "They are high-value items that easily sell."
Schneiderman hopes someone will recognize one of the criminals. One of the surveillance images shows the eyes and part of the face of one of the burglars.
Schneiderman does have insurance and the store is open. The criminals, who also stole a TV, appear to be in the early to mid-20s.
Anyone with information that can help Aventura Police should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
