By james art Hialeah police announced Tuesday the arrest of two young Cuban nationals accused of attempted murder in the shootings of two people in that Florida city earlier this month, as well as a previous shooting in Miami.
Yosmani Jerondi Rodriguez Granados, 23, and Dagoberto Gonzalez Gomez, 22, were wanted in connection with a shooting that occurred Oct. 1 at 7:45 p.m. in a parking lot near the Pura Vida condominium on West 16th Avenue, Hialeah.
Meanwhile, Miami police were also looking for Rodriguez because of his alleged involvement in a previous incident in the city where one of the same victims from his latest attack was shot. As a result, he faces charges of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, while Gonzalez is charged with attempted second-degree murder.
According to the Hialeah Police Department report cited by Local 10 News, on the night of Oct. 1, the two victims left the apartment complex and went to their car parked on West 29th Street.
After they both got into the vehicle, Gonzalez, who was hiding in nearby bushes, alerted Rodriguez, who drove up in his car and reached out of the driver’s side window and fired a gun at the victims several times.
The bullets hit the front hood of the car, but the people escaped the attack unharmed. Rodriguez and Gonzalez immediately fled the scene.
Authorities have not released the identities of the victims.
The events were recorded by surveillance cameras and witnessed by bystanders. Testimony from these witnesses, video surveillance footage and geolocation data from cellphones allowed Hialeah police to identify the suspects.
Rodriguez was arrested Monday night without incident and police say he was carrying a gun in his pocket. After his arrest, he refused to testify before the investigators.
However, agents indicated that Rodriguez may be connected to an earlier shooting in Miami where one of the same victims was attacked. So far, authorities have not released any further details about this incident.
The Hialeah and Miami police departments are cooperating in the investigation of both cases to determine if they are related to a common motive and if Rodriguez is involved in other similar incidents in the area.
Rodriguez appeared in court this Tuesday, AméricaTeVe reported, and faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, firing a deadly projectile and firing a firearm from a vehicle. Gonzalez is charged with attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Both are being held on immigration-related matters.
Until this Tuesday, the Cubans remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) in Miami-Dade.