It was a case of “close but no cigar” for burglars who broke into a South Florida warehouse but didn’t get away with any stogies, authorities said.
The suspects shimmied up a tree as they tried to get into Florida Distributors Inc.’s cigar warehouse in Tamarac through its roof at 2700 NW 55th Court early on Saturday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said.
They weren’t able to, but they rappelled down the building with a rope and used a stolen sheet metal saw to cut through a garage door, according to the BSO.
Deputies, who were alerted by the security company watching surveillance cameras, approached the building just after 3:30 a.m. and saw a white Ford van speed off.
Three suspects got away, but deputies apprehended Hermes Perez, 30, of Miami, who faces charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools, the BSO said. It wasn’t immediately known whether he has an attorney.
The same business was hit by burglars on July 26, when suspects bent the rebar away from a ceiling vent and stole between $400,000 and $500,000 worth of cigars, the BSO said. Those suspects spent about two hours loading about 700 cases of cigars into three vehicles before they drove away in the middle of the night, the agency said.
It’s unclear if the same group was involved in the new case, the BSO said.
The warehouse owners had no comment.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call Det. Jeremy Grant at 954-720-2225 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
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