A City of Miami Beach employee was arrested Thursday after police said he admitted entering a woman’s apartment without permission and stealing about $2,000 worth of jewelry, according to an arrest report from the Miami Beach Police Department.
Julian Mejia Bernal, 31, of Pembroke Pines, worked as a case worker for the city. The investigation started when the woman reported that a gold necklace and ring were missing. She told investigators she first noticed the items gone on Sunday and usually kept them on a plate atop a dresser in her living room. She said she rarely left home and that only her assistant had visited.
Detectives reviewed footage from the woman’s Ring security camera. The report says it showed Mejia Bernal knocking on her front door at about 2:20 p.m. on Oct. 15, then opening the door and going inside. He stayed two to three minutes, police said. The woman was in the building’s lobby at the time.
Mejia Bernal went to the police department Thursday to give a statement. Police said he was told he was free to leave and that the interview was recorded. After being read his Miranda rights, he waived them and kept talking with detectives without an attorney, admitting again that he entered the apartment and took her belongings.
He was charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, third-degree grand theft and dealing in stolen property. As of Friday afternoon he was held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $10,000 bond. Local 10 News said it had contacted the City of Miami Beach for comment.
