Two Port Miami employees, Tangela Denise Parks, 50, and Angel Junior Prudhomme, 27, have been slapped with charges of grand theft and criminal mischief following allegations of stealing $50K worth of artwork from a terminal they were assigned to clean, as reported by the Local 10 News.
The duo, who are both custodial workers at the port, were captured by surveillance footage removing and carting away various pieces of art including mosaic and marble works, skirting surveillance cameras with trash cans and bags although they were skilled at evading camera detection; they were ultimately, however, not quite adept enough to avoid capture altogether. The incident was said to have unfolded on May 12 and was reported last Friday through the public corruption tip line, according to the NBC Miami coverage of the event.
Following these reports, detectives reviewed further surveillance video and saw Prudhomme staging artwork in a stairwell on May 12, and transferring it to Parks' vehicle the next day. Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office stated that they recovered half of the art pieces at the port, damaged, though necessary, due to their mishandling, and the remaining were found at Prudhomme's residence, shared CBS Miami News.
“As Sheriff of Miami-Dade County, I take individuals using their employment to steal very seriously. I am committed to ensuring that anyone involved in dishonest actions will be held accountable” Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz was quoted in the Local 10 News. Post-Miranda, both Prudhomme and Parks admitted to their involvement in the theft; they were held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center awaiting bond setting as final details continue to be ironed out by law enforcement and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office to bring this chapter to a close.
