A 37-year-old southwest Miami-Dade man already on probation for spraying shoppers with unknown liquid from syringes is back behind bars after deputies say he did it again inside a Ross Dress for Less store this month. Sean Edward Uribe was taken into custody Monday and now faces a felony battery charge tied to an August 14 incident at the store off Southwest 137th Avenue and Miller Drive.
According to the WPLG Local 10 report, a store employee told deputies she watched Uribe pace back and forth in a suspicious manner before he positioned himself behind another employee working in an aisle. He allegedly grabbed his penis over his clothing, then massaged it, before he possibly sprayed the victim's shirt with an unknown liquid, per deputies. Investigators later found that the victim's shirt and pants had a cloudy, sticky substance on them from an unknown liquid, according to the arrest report.
The station's report notes that detectives identified Uribe from surveillance video, and the store employee identified him in a photo lineup on August 19. Detectives said they were able to move quickly in part because they already had prior knowledge of Uribe and his modus operandi, which helped them identify him.
A Pattern Stretching Back to 2024
This is not the first time Uribe has faced accusations of this kind. In September 2024, Uribe was arrested following two summer incidents at Miami-Dade clothing stores in which he allegedly squirted unknown liquid onto female shoppers' clothing — a juvenile at a Kendall Ross Dress for Less store in June 2024 and an adult woman at a Marshalls store that August — while recording with his cell phone, according to Local 10's earlier coverage. Hoodline previously reported on that case in its story on the Kendall Ross store incident.
During a search warrant executed at Uribe's west Miami-Dade home at the time, detectives recovered three medical syringes containing a viscous white liquid consistent with semen, along with clothing matching store surveillance video and a Miami Dolphins cap worn during both incidents, according to Law & Crime. When initially questioned in 2024, Uribe told officers the substance in the syringes was moisturizing lotion, though lab evidence and search warrants disputed that claim, according to the Memphis Flyer.
Evidence Tampering Led to Added Charge
After that 2024 arrest, Uribe called his father from custody on a monitored line and instructed him to go to his home and put hard drives under lock and key, according to the Greenville Journal. Officers intercepted the drives, and detectives added a charge of tampering with physical evidence. That case left Uribe on probation for battery and attempting to tamper with physical evidence, which he was still serving when the August incident occurred, and he now also faces a probation violation charge.
Because Uribe has two prior battery convictions in Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office arrested him this time on a charge of battery with two prior convictions rather than a misdemeanor. Under Florida Statute § 784.03(2), an individual with at least one prior conviction for battery, felony battery, or aggravated battery who commits a subsequent battery can be charged with a third-degree felony. A third-degree felony conviction in Florida carries a statutory penalty of up to five years in state prison, up to five years of probation, and a maximum fine of $5,000, according to the Brancato Law Firm.
What Remains Unresolved
Separately, Florida Statute § 800.03 classifies public exposure or exhibition of sexual organs in a vulgar or indecent manner as a first-degree misdemeanor for a first offense, escalating to a third-degree felony for a second or subsequent conviction. It remains unclear whether formal indecent exposure charges under that statute will be added in this case, and the results of any chemical testing on the substance found on the victim's clothing have not been made public. The outcome of Uribe's probation violation proceedings is also still pending.
Per the arrest report, Uribe invoked his right to remain silent after his arrest Monday. He was held at the MetroWest Detention Center in Doral, the largest facility in the Miami-Dade County Corrections system with a capacity of 3,098 beds for male inmates. His bond had not yet been set as of Monday. The Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, which operates the eighth-largest jail system in the country, manages between 4,000 and 5,200 incarcerated individuals on average across its facilities.
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