Off-duty Customs agent exchanges gunfire with man breaking into his car, police say
An off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent exchanged gunfire with an armed man trying to break into his car in Miami early Tuesday morning, police said.
After the brief gunfight, the 77-year-old man moved on to a neighbor’s home at Northeast Seventh Avenue and 71st Street, trying to break into that house, police said.
According to an arrest report, the agent’s wife went outside to walk her dogs around 5:20 a.m. when she saw the man, who police say is Ruel Robert Maxwell, trying to open the couple’s Volvo SUV. The woman went back inside to get her husband, who came outside and confronted Maxwell, the report states.
After the agent asked Maxwell what he was doing there, Maxwell went to the driver’s side and tried opening the door. The agent told police he said to Maxwell, “You should get out of here. You should go away,” according to the report.
Maxwell then pointed a revolver at the agent, firing once, police say. The agent told police he demanded Maxwell put the gun down, but he instead fired another round at him, according to the report. The agent fired back three times with his 9 mm pistol, missing Maxwell and striking his neighbor’s garage door, the report states.
No one was hit, police say.
About 20 minutes later, another man who lives on the street was woken up by a noise coming from his front door. He opened the door and saw Maxwell, who was trying to get inside, according to the report. The man pushed Maxwell against a wall and punched him before calling police, the report states.
The homeowner showed officers footage from his home security camera, which showed Maxwell on his property trying to remove the cover from the man’s motorcycle. The footage showed Maxwell holding a revolver, the arrest report states.
As a witness was speaking with investigators about the incidents later in the morning, she saw Maxwell standing nearby and pointed him out to police, who arrested him, according to the report. He spoke with detectives around 11 a.m., but what he told them was redacted from the report.
Maxwell was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on attempted second-degree murder, attempted burglary and unlawful discharge of a firearm. A judge had not set his bond as of Tuesday night, and information on his legal representation was not immediately available.
