Burglars should know that if they target Miami Lakes, Miami-Dade Police Detective Myriam Nieves is likely to catch them.
After a thief stole more than $17,000 from a liquor store last October and damaged impact resistant glass doors at two other businesses but failed to break in, Nieves identified the suspect who was eventually charged in 16 burglaries, including the three from town.
Nieves has closed 102 cases in the last five years, her supervisors say, including 48 felony arrests for vehicle burglaries, car thefts, aggravated battery and other offenses.
Her sleuthing skills include using latent fingerprints left behind by suspects and their DNA, too.
And she has partnered with other agencies to make 15 arrests in car theft cases.
As the senior detective on the town force, Nieves investigates all auto theft and burglary incidents and hit and run crashes in Miami Lakes.
Across town at Miami-Dade Fire Station 64, Firefighter Lazaro Calzadilla was also praised for his extraordinary performance and service.
As a platform, ladder and engine driver in Battalion 14, Calzadilla is known as “a very hard worker … who is always willing to volunteer when there is a vacancy,” his supervisor said.
Officials also commended his “work ethic, dedication to the community and desire to serve all citizens with the utmost respect and kindness,” and called those attributes “unparalleled.”
Calzadilla has local ties, and is a graduate of Barbara Goleman Senior High School.
The town’s Public Safety Committee recognized the two public servants at its annual appreciation breakfast on May 20.
It was attended by committee members and Chair Nancy Rogers, Mayor Manny Cid and Town Manager Edward Pidermann, who is retired from the fire service.
Sponsors for the breakfast held at the Miami Lakes Hotel on Main include The Graham Companies; J’s Beauty Spa & Treatments; Lou’s Police Distributors and D’Villavicencio & Associates, Public Safety Training & Consulting, Inc.