Coordinated sting operation with bar owners spotlights a growing problem in the Grove’s nightlife scene.
It’s about 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday in Coconut Grove. College students returning home for the holidays and other revelers flock to the pedestrian-only Fuller Street as Miami Police Department Commander Daniel Kerr and his team of undercover officers set their trap: Six plainclothes cops, dressed to blend in, enter a packed Barracuda Taphouse & Grill carrying a decoy cell phone.
Two officers approach the bar. They order a drink, place down the phone between them, and soon become lost in conversation.
Four others officers look on, carefully eyeing the unguarded phone. Outside, amidst the packed crowd, two more officers, in uniform, watch the door.
Phone theft, Kerr, explained to a Spotlight reporter last week, is booming business within downtown Coconut Grove’s lively commercial and entertainment district. The police operation at Barracudas, on December 19, was the first of many Miami Police will conduct in the coming months to target the growing phone-theft industry.
“I’ve been getting complaints from bar owners throughout the Grove asking me to crack down on the problem,” said Kerr. “These operations will continue throughout the New Year and are aimed to not only catch thieves in action but deter others from even coming to the Grove.”
According to Kerr, phone theft in Coconut Grove is most prevalent at bars and restaurants that cater to younger adults. In addition to Barracuda, he names Sandbar Sports Grill on Grand Avenue, Bodega Taqueria y Tequila on Main Highway and Oasis Lounge on McFarlane Road as hotspots for the crime. And such activity tends to peak, Kerr notes, on Thursday evenings – traditionally a time of brisk business for bars in the area.
The bar owners are supporting the police operation.
Phone theft is often an unreported crime, Kerr explains. Victims tend to be younger adults or college students. Alcohol may be a factor for failing to contact police. Some bar managers say they occasionally learn of the thefts not from customers or from police reports but from complaints and negative comments victims leave on Yelp and other online review platforms.
Kerr coordinated with owners and managers of all four establishments in advance of the December 19 operation.
“We are really happy to work with the police to help fix this issue,” Barracuda owner Lee Kessler told the Spotlight. “We’ll help the police out however we can.”
Shortly after the undercover officers position the decoy phone, two young men straddle up to the bar and order a drink. One of them casually slides the phone towards the other, who initially does not react, instead chatting with the bartender. He then taps the home screen once, places his wallet over the phone and then picks up both together and slides them into his back pocket.
As the man casually strides toward the door, the officers descend. They display their badges and identify themselves as police officers. Tensing his arms, the man bolts through the door into the scrum of customers along Fuller Street.
He doesn’t get far. The man is wrestled to the ground, handcuffed, and transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
According to Kerr, phone thieves generally fall into one of two categories: opportunists and professionals. The opportunists tend to be younger bar patrons, perhaps seeking a thrill; or they could be an employee, taking advantage of distracted or alcohol-fueled customers.
Professional thieves often operate in groups and tend to skew older. They employ more complex maneuvers, bumping into their victims to wedge their phones out of pockets and handing stolen phones off to other thieves, making them harder to track. Professional thieves also prefer to target women they observe with phones dangling from a back pocket.
Despite the man’s attempt to flee the scene, Kerr has a hunch that the suspect — later identified through police records as 24-year-old Miami resident Leonardo Mayi – was more likely an opportunist than a professional.
Mayi is charged with a first-degree misdemeanor of petty theft and a first-degree misdemeanor of resisting arrest without violence. Both charges are punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
The cell phone operation is just starting, Kerr tells the Spotlight. He and his team will return through the New Year, particularly on Thursdays and weekend nights when crowds of students and other young people – and the thieves who target them – are the largest.
“It is really important to note the synergy we have going with these operations,” Kerr told the Spotlight. “We want to be at these bars and the owners want us there as well. Not just for phone theft, but in general.”
