MIAMI – A 36-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing a Rolls-Royce outside a luxury condominium in Miami. Police say James Brown, a Miami resident, took the vehicle parked outside the Paraiso Bayviews building at 501 NE 31st St.
The vehicle was later located the same day at a Shell gas station located at 5343 NW Seventh Ave. Authorities responded to the gas station after the vehicle’s location was tracked. Upon arrival, officers found the Rolls-Royce with its driver’s side door and trunk open.
A customer at the gas station alerted police, saying the driver was now across the street, arguing with a witness in an AutoZone parking lot. When Brown noticed the police, he ran, but officers quickly apprehended him after a brief pursuit through the parking lot and over a fence near Northeast Seventh Court and 54th Street.
According to the victim, he had left his car running and unlocked outside the building, while he briefly went upstairs to retrieve his wallet. He entrusted valet workers to watch over the car. Soon after, Brown approached the valet area, claimed the car was his, and drove off.
A witness, who had learned that the car was pinging in the area, followed Brown to the gas station and then to AutoZone, where he confronted him. Brown refused to speak with detectives but was arrested on charges of grand theft of a vehicle and resisting an officer without violence.
Brown is currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, awaiting bond details.
