South Florida TV reporter accused of pawning neighbor’s Rolex watch, police say
A local television reporter turned himself in to Miami police headquarters Thursday on charges that he stole his neighbor’s Rolex watch and sold it to a pawn shop.
Michael Hudak, 29, who works at WSVN-ABC 7News, was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, dealing in stolen property, grand theft and using a false verification at a pawn shop.
Hudak was released from jail after posting two bonds totaling $18,000, according to jail records. Information on his legal representation was not immediately available.
According to his arrest report, he sold the Rolex to U.S. Pawn at 7806 NW Seventh Ave. for $7,000 on Aug. 8. He signed the transaction form, placed his right thumbprint on the document and showed the clerk his Florida driver’s license during the sale, detectives wrote in their report.
Hudak’s neighbor reported the watch missing after returning home from a two-week vacation and noticing it was gone on July 18, detectives say.
The man told police that he asked all of his neighbors, including Hudak, if they knew anything about the watch, and they all responded that they did not, according to the arrest report.
On Aug. 9, a detective received an email from an online database that tracks stolen goods that the watch’s serial number matched one that had been sold to the pawn shop, the report states.
Hudak was suspended without pay on Thursday, his employer WSVN-ABC told the Miami Herald. He joined WSVN in November 2023 after working at WINK News in Fort Myers. WSVN removed his bio from its site Thursday.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM.
