MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies were investigating a home invasion early Thursday morning at the home of a jeweler who has amassed a strong following on TikTok while promoting his business.
According to Detective Luis Sierra, deputies responded to a house at Southwest 284 Street and 130 Avenue. The home is near the Homestead Air Reserve Base, in unincorporated Miami-Dade.
6 p.m. report:
Ashon Lillie, a neighbor, said he saw three people walking up and down the street, and later he heard a scream, “Oh my God!” And, then silence and dogs barking.
Officer Samantha Choon, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office, said three masked black-clad gunmen ambushed a resident after midnight outside the home.
“They took him into the home. They gathered the rest of the family; they took them into one room,” Choon said.
Miami-Dade County property records show York Perez owns the two-story four-bedroom house in the Lake Frances subdivision.
“One of the subjects held the victims at gunpoint in the room while the other two ransacked the home,” Choon said.
The burglars got away with the homeowner’s jewelry and clothing and also stole the victim’s white Cadillac sports utility vehicle, according to Choon.
“There were no injuries and we are fortunate for that - but this was a scary situation,” Choon said.
A glass-encased life-size statue of Saint Lazarus, the Catholic patron saint of the poor and sick, stood near the front door. The saint is also an important figure in Santería, a religion that started in Cuba.
Perez, a proud Cuban who has over 121,000 followers on TikTok, posted pictures of the tall statue at his home on his account with photos of his daughter and his pregnant wife a few days ago.
Miami-Dade deputies did not release the identity of the victims, but Perez used social media to describe his nightmare before he walked outside of his home to talk to Local 10 News.
Perez posted a video saying in Spanish that the three men had held him and his family hostage for about five to six hours, threatened to kidnap his daughter, and also stole designer bags and two watches.
“The biggest fear of my life is that something would happen to my daughter,” Perez wrote in Spanish on TikTok.
Perez regularly shares photos and videos of gold Cuban chains, rings with large gemstones, pendants encrusted with diamonds, and other bold pieces he sells at his two stores in Miami-Dade.
“More than 5 million people see me every week,” Perez said.
He said he suspects the burglars who held him and his family at gunpoint were probably among his viewers.
“This is a lesson I learned to slow down a bit on social media,” Perez said in Spanish on TikTok. He said he was grateful that his family was safe, and he also had a message for the burglars: “God bless you.”
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
Post on TikTok (Warning: Expletives in Spanish)
@yorkjewelry17 Ayer tuve la experiencia mas amarga de mi vida🙏. El temor mas grande de mi vida es que le pasara algo a mi Hija💪🙏🙏🙏🙏#graciasdiosportusbendiciones ##graciasdios #mihijahermosa ♬ original sound - York Jewelry👑