A Feb. 22 shooting ended a six-month lull in violent crime, but most of the 56 incidents reported over the past month involved theft, disputes and other nonviolent offenses.
A burst of gunfire on Douglas Road — the first shooting in more than six months — punctuated an otherwise steady pattern of mostly nonviolent crime in Coconut Grove over the past month.
Police records show 56 reported incidents during that period, dominated by thefts, vehicle break-ins and domestic disputes.
While the Grove remains one of the city’s lowest-crime neighborhoods, the incidents offer a snapshot of the everyday offenses that continue to shape safety concerns for Grove residents.
The Feb. 22 shooting occurred just before 8 p.m. on Douglas Road, across from Ike’s Food Center in West Grove. Police were alerted by the gunshot-tracking service ShotSpotter, but by the time officers arrived, the victim had already left the scene.
He was later located at Mercy Hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound and listed in stable condition. Police described the incident as an isolated dispute between two men. The suspect remains at large.
The shooting marked the Grove’s first of 2026 and ended a six-month stretch without reported gun violence. Data from CrimeMapping.com, which compiles information from the Miami Police Department, shows no reported robberies or homicides in the neighborhood so far this year.
Even so, violent incidents did surface. Police reported eight assaults over the past month, several involving domestic disputes.
In one case, officers say a 62-year-old man, Carlos Arteaga, grabbed and slapped his mother during an argument at their shared home on Southwest 27th Avenue. Arteaga was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated battery.
In a separate incident on Royal Road in South Grove, police said Alitza Weiss, 61, threatened a person with a kitchen knife following a dispute inside a home. According to police, Weiss approached the victim and told him to leave or she would stab him. She was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Property crimes accounted for the largest share of reported incidents, with 23 cases of theft or larceny.
A man learned firsthand how common theft can be after accidentally leaving his $300 GoPro camera on a rented jet ski in Coconut Grove.
When he realized it was missing, he contacted the rental company. The suspect told him they were in possession of the camera but allegedly refused to return it, citing a negative Google review the victim had reportedly left.
The victim later returned to the rental location — which police did not name — where employees told him the suspect was a third-party operator whom they had no way of contacting.
Three motor vehicle thefts were also reported, including one on Micanopy Avenue in North Grove where surveillance footage showed a suspect arriving in a separate vehicle before driving away in a white 2017 Mazda CX-9 belonging to the victim.
The other vehicle thefts were on U.S. 1 near Mundy Street in West Grove, and on 27th Avenue near Bird Avenue in Center Grove.
In 2024 a total of 48 vehicles were reported stolen in Coconut Grove, but only six have been reported so far in 2026, according to CrimeMapping.com.
Two burglaries were reported in the past month, including a report in North Grove where jewelry went missing after workers from a house-cleaning company visited a home on Tequesta Lane. The victim told police she placed her jewelry inside a bag and placed it under the kitchen cabinet and left her home while it was cleaned. When she returned the jewelry was gone.
Police also reported four prostitution-related incidents at a single address on Southwest 28th Terrace, along with scattered cases of vandalism and drug- and alcohol-related violations.
The recent incidents largely mirror recent patterns in Coconut Grove in recent months, with most reported crimes involving theft and other nonviolent offenses.
Miami Police Commander Freddie Cruz, who oversees Coconut Grove, did not respond to the Spotlight’s request for comment.
