Nearly $2 million in luxury Hermés handbags swiped from Miami Beach store. How it happened
A duo snatched almost $2 million worth of Hermès Birkin designer bags from a Miami Beach store. One of the men accused in the heist, whose car is linked to a jewelry store theft last year in Florida, is now behind bars.
Eduardo Travieso Garcia, 45, was arrested Tuesday, hours after the front door of the Maison Wrist Aficionado was propped open — and the business was ransacked for its luxury handbags. The Southwest Miami-Dade man is facing charges of burglary, grand theft over $100,000 and unlawful use of a communications device.
At around 3 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to the Setai Hotel, 2001 Collins Ave., where the store is housed. Surveillance video caught a man hopping out of a white Ford E-250 work van with a PSG Construction logo on the side.
He opened the door with an unknown tool, police say. Then another man approached the front door with a large gray garbage bin. The first guy is, too, caught on tape with a bin of his own.
Within minutes, they’re collecting treasure, filling the bins with luxury designer handbags, according to police. The men got back into their respective vehicles, with the second man jumping into an orange Hyundai Santa Fe.
The store owner, who arrived on the scene that morning, told police that more than 60 bags — valued at more than $1.8 million — were nabbed.
When detectives tracked the work van’s whereabouts, they noticed that it and the Santa Fe left Miami Beach together through the Julia Tuttle Causeway. The Santa Fe, according to police, was linked back to Garcia — and a jewelry store burglary in Hillsborough Country last year.
Garcia, jail records show, is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with his bond set at $100,000.
