Bodycam footage shows Indian River County Sheriff deputies taking down 2 suspected retail thieves
By: Body camera footage showed the moment that Indian River County Sheriff’s deputies moved into place as they waited for two Miami men inside a Vero Beach Burlington department store, accused of stuffing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise into a suitcase.
From the video, one of the suspects was seen casually walking out.
Deputies then immediately stopped him by the parking lot.
The suspect puts up a fight, but deputies were able to eventually take him down and make the arrest.
As for the second suspect, he was seen running away despite deputies telling him to stop.
One of the deputies deployed his stun gun before the man fell down.
The pair were identified as Nelson Alonso and Adrian Hernandez. They both have felony records and are on probation out of Miami.
They now remain in the county jail.
This recent incident is just a glimpse into what’s been happening nationwide.
“You see it in other parts of the country, in New York, in California, where they’re loading up carts and rolling out,” said Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers.
Flowers believes the area is a hot spot because the shops are right off the interstate.
“Right there by 95, we have the same with our outlet mall, and we have special precautions in there with our license plate readers that if you go into that outlet mall and steal, we’re going to catch you,” he said.
His biggest concern is for the workers and customers.
“We don’t want the retail workers, the customers, anybody to get hurt in these,” he said. “You never know. If folks are willing to travel from Miami to Vero Beach, you saw, they fought with our deputies, they’re not going to just give up easily. We don’t want somebody else to get hurt.”
He also shared a message to these traveling criminals who think this area is a target.
“You get what you get when you play stupid games up here in Indian River County,” Flowers said. “Find somewhere else to do that nonsense, because if you try it here, we’re going to catch you.”
Both suspects remain behind bars on multiple charges, which include grand theft and resisting an officer.