Bay Harbor Islands valet caught stealing customers’ vehicles.
A 51‑year‑old man was arrested in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, on Friday for allegedly using his job as a valet parking attendant to commit burglary. Police say the suspect, Daniel Lopez, was present at the Bijou Bay Harbor building at 9521 East Bay Harbor Drive when the property manager discovered a forced safe in a vacant apartment. The safe belonged to a property owner who resides outside the United States.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Lopez disembarking from an elevator on the same floor at two a.m. on Tuesday. According to police, Lopez claimed he was working the front desk overnight and that he had signed out the unit keys from the building’s secured key box after a phone call asking for help. He was unable to identify the caller or provide a phone number and did not report the incident to his supervisors.
A detective reviewing the video concluded that Lopez’s actions indicated an intention to enter the apartment. Police entered the suspect’s address on Friday and arrested him at the Bay Harbor Islands Police Department. He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center near Doral.
The suspect now faces a second‑degree felony charge of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. No further statements have been released by the police department at this time.