Police look for more victims after three women were attacked in Miami and Miami Beach
Police are looking for more potential victims after they arrested a 34-year-old man accused of attacking three women in Miami and Miami Beach.
Camilo Andres Pedraza has been charged with two counts of attempted kidnapping, two of sexual battery with no serious injury, two of stalking and one of false imprisonment, to which he has pleaded not guilty, Miami-Dade County court records show. A judge also ordered him to stay away from two of the victims.
The Miami resident remained behind bars at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of March 16.
According to a Miami police report, one of the victims left a Ross Dress for Less clothing store in Coral Gables around 8 p.m. Nov. 2 and began walking eastbound on Coral Way to go home in what should normally be about a 30-minute walk. After making several turns, she held her cellphone and turned on its back light to see where she was going as she neared the intersection of Southwest 22nd Avenue and 24th Street.
Moments later, detectives say Pedraza ran up to the victim from behind, squatted down, grabbed her by the waist and tried to pick her up in the 2200 block of Southwest 24th Street. The woman screamed and a neighbor came outside to see what was going on. Pedraza let her go, causing her to fall onto the ground, and then he ran westbound on 24th Street, investigators say.
Minutes after the attack, however, the victim told cops she exited her home to go to her vehicle when she saw Pedraza walking “very slowly” by her fence. They made eye contact, and the woman said she got “an unsettling feeling” about him. She entered her home and asked her father to walk her to the car when they heard someone yell outside. That’s when her dad ran after the suspect until he lost sight of him, according to police.
Security cameras captured Pedraza parking a black Toyota Corolla on the corner of Southwest 25th Avenue and 22nd Terrace, exiting the vehicle, putting on a hat and walking in the direction of the woman, detectives say. They say he was then seen on video walking around the area before running back to his car and driving away.
Pedraza’s cellphone data also places him in the area of the clothing store and later in the area of the attempted kidnapping at the time of the incident, detectives say.
His attorney didn’t immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment.
Cops: Pedraza confessed to stalking women
This wasn’t the last time that Miami investigators were alerted of Pedraza.
Miami Beach detectives have identified two similar cases involving the same suspect — one in July 22, 2022, and Feb. 17, 2023, police reports show. In both instances, the victims said they were walking on the Venetian Causeway when Pedraza grabbed them from behind and fondled their vaginal area. Both women said he ran after they screamed for help.
Cops arrested Pedraza on March 3 at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Miami Beach, where he was driving the same black Corolla used in the Miami attack, the police report shows. According to Miami Beach investigators, Pedraza confessed to stalking the woman in the Feb. 17 attack and said he had done it before.
His arraignment hearing is scheduled for March 24.
Police search for more potential victims
Following Pedraza’s alleged confession, Miami Beach detectives believe there may be additional victims and are urging women who may have been attacked to come forward.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Miami Beach police at 305-673-7901 or Miami police at 305-579-6111. To submit an anonymous tip, contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers by dialing 1-800-346-8477 or visiting crimestoppers305.com.
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 5:12 PM.
