A quick grab-and-run at a Sunny Isles Beach consignment boutique ended with three suspects under arrest, a stolen $16,000 Hermès Birkin bag recovered, and a getaway that spanned two counties and two vehicles. Store worker Ivan Retivov says he chased the suspects out the door himself after they made off with the bag, but it took police tracking a fleeing car’s license plate to finally close the case.
According to WPLG Local 10, the theft unfolded at The Brand Original luxury boutique at 18090 Collins Ave. A 16-year-old suspect first walked into the store around 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, August 12, seemingly to scope out the merchandise, before returning about five minutes later with two others to grab the bag just before 12:30 p.m. Retivov, who worked at the store, told the Miami Herald that three girls entered the shop and one ran off with the bag, prompting him to chase after them.
Tracking the Getaway From Sunny Isles Beach to Fort Lauderdale
Police identified the initial getaway vehicle as a black Cadillac CT4 sedan bearing Louisiana license plates, per the Local 10 report. Detectives determined the suspects’ appearances and the vehicle used to flee, then accessed surveillance cameras almost immediately after the suspects left the store, according to the Miami Herald. The suspects fled toward Fort Lauderdale, where the case took another turn.
Fort Lauderdale police spotted the Cadillac at a Wawa gas station on West Broward Boulevard, watched the trio switch into a gray Tesla, and then conducted a traffic stop near Northwest Fourth Street and 27th Avenue, the same Local 10 report states. All three suspects reportedly confessed to the theft during police interrogation and identified themselves in surveillance footage taken inside the boutique, per that account. Fort Lauderdale police arrested 18-year-old Monique Williams and two other teens the day after the theft, the Miami Herald reported.
Bag Sold as a Fake, Then Returned
Retivov told the Miami Herald that the suspects sold the bag to a woman for $1,000, passing it off as a replica. That buyer later returned the bag to The Brand Original after learning it had been stolen, Retivov said, and it was back at the store by Thursday, August 13. Surveillance footage from the day of the theft appears to show one teen leaving the frame and returning with the Birkin bag, according to the Miami Herald…