A banned customer, a bag of wine and a blade turned a routine Thursday into a tense showdown outside a Coral Gables grocery store, according to Miami police. A Milam's Market manager told officers he was threatened with a knife after confronting a woman he had already barred from the store over earlier thefts, and officers later arrested 63-year-old Cherrie Ophelia Adams at the scene. Authorities say they recovered the stolen items, a knife and drug paraphernalia.
According to Local 10, police say Adams walked into the Milam's near the Douglas Road Metrorail station just before 6:30 p.m., headed for the wine section and left with several items tucked into her bag. The manager followed her outside and tried to get the bag back, but the arrest report states Adams pulled a knife from her purse and threatened to “kill him if he did not step back.” Officers responding to the area took Adams into custody after the manager pointed her out.
Store and neighborhood
Milam's Market is a family-owned grocer with several locations around Miami-Dade County, and its Coral Gables store sits right by the Douglas Road Metrorail stop, according to Milam's Market. The site lists the address as 3050 SW 37th Ave., a transit-heavy stretch used by commuters and students headed to and from the train.
Arrest, evidence and charges
Police say they found the allegedly stolen items, the knife and “several crack pipes” with suspected cocaine residue nearby. Adams was charged with armed robbery and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, Local 10 reports. She was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with online records listing her bond status as “to be set.” The arrest report notes the manager opted to return to the store to call police instead of trying to detain her himself.
What the law says
Under Florida law, robbery committed “with a weapon” is a first-degree felony, and the robbery statute specifies that carrying a weapon during a robbery increases the severity of the charge, according to the Florida Statutes. Sentencing rules state that a first-degree felony can carry up to 30 years in prison in many cases, per Fla. Stat. 7775.082. How any of that might apply in this case will be up to prosecutors and the courts as the criminal process moves forward.
