Police arrest three for identity theft of Surfside tower victims

Police arrest three suspects after they allegedly stole identities of the Surfside tower’s victims.

On June 24, Champlain Towers South in the Miami suburb of Surfside partially collapsed after midnight, killing 98 people.

The remainder of the building was demolished in July, while the cause of the collapse is still being investigated.

The three black suspects were identified as Rodney Choute, 38, Kimberley Michelle Johnson, 34, and Alexandra Cacho-Medina, 30.

The suspects bought luxury apparels and other items worth over $40,000 from the credit cards of at least five of the victims and two survivors.

They also conducted bank transfers worth thousands more.

Police were alerted by the sibling of one of the victims after they noticed attempts to change their late sibling’s banking details.

A son of two of the victims also noticed unauthorized transactions being conducted from his parents’ bank accounts.

Half a dozen agencies were involved in the fraud and identity theft investigation.

If convicted, the suspects could face up to 10 to 25 years in prison.

The cause of the collapse is so far undetermined but bureaucratic negligence is suspected.

In 2018, an engineer warned of major structural damage to the building, and a building official despite the warning told the board members that it was in pretty good shape.