A Miami Beach taxi driver has been arrested after investigators said he was involved in a series of cellphone thefts targeting intoxicated people in the city’s entertainment district.
Reynoso Osias, 48, was taken into custody Tuesday and faces eight charges, including kidnapping, organized scheme to defraud, offenses against computer users, unlawful use of a communications device and conspiracy to commit strong-arm robbery, according to police and Miami-Dade jail records.
Police said the investigation began with a June 14 incident near Washington Avenue and later expanded after a second case was reported on June 28. Investigators believe the incidents may be connected and said there could be additional victims.
In the first case, police said a man leaving a nightclub was approached by a woman who befriended him. The man told investigators he had been drinking and remembered little of what happened. At one point, police said, the woman took his phone and ran toward a waiting taxi.
Surveillance footage later showed the woman leaving the cab near 13th Street and approaching another person who appeared to be intoxicated and lying outside a bar, according to investigators. Police said she searched the man’s pockets, took his phone and used his face to unlock the device before returning to the taxi.
Investigators said fraudulent transactions were subsequently made using the stolen phone, including purchases at a Target store. Police identified Osias as the driver of the taxi and said the woman involved in the incidents had also been identified. Authorities are still investigating her role and are seeking her whereabouts.
Second case led investigators back to the taxi
Police said a second incident on June 28 provided additional evidence linking Osias to the investigation.
According to investigators, the victim had been at a nightclub on Washington Avenue and became heavily intoxicated. He later discovered that his phone was missing and that fraudulent transactions had been made, including transfers from his bank accounts.
Surveillance footage showed the man outside the club before a taxi pulled up. Police said he entered the vehicle even though he did not remember requesting a taxi or hailing one.
The man was later found by officers in the 700 block of 15th Street, an area where he did not live, according to the investigation. His phone was still missing.
Investigators used surveillance footage, license plate-reader information, cellphone records and body-worn camera footage to identify the taxi and connect Osias to the case.
Police also reviewed footage from several days and said the same taxi was repeatedly seen around Miami Beach’s entertainment district, including periods when it appeared to remain outside clubs without picking up passengers.
When detectives located Osias Tuesday in the 700 block of Washington Avenue, they arrested him while he was driving the taxi. A search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered eight iPhones inside a plastic bag beneath the driver’s seat, according to police.
Police believe more victims may come forward
Miami Beach police said investigators believe the alleged scheme may have involved more people than the two victims who have been identified so far.
Police spokesman Christopher Bess said investigators believe the suspects specifically looked for people who were vulnerable because they were intoxicated. Authorities said stolen phones were then used to access financial accounts or make purchases.
As of Wednesday, Osias remained in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with his bond listed as pending in online jail records. He appeared in court, where a judge found probable cause for the charges; his hearing was reset after he retained a private attorney.
The investigation remains active. Miami Beach police are asking anyone who believes they may have been targeted or who has information about the alleged scheme to contact investigators.
The allegations against Osias have not been proven in court, and the charges are pending through the legal process.
