A Miami man accused of slamming his BMW into an occupied detective's car and speeding away from a June traffic stop has finally been caught, more than two months after he vanished on foot near Biscayne Boulevard. U.S. Marshals arrested 25-year-old Celestino Ayala Jr. in New Orleans on Monday, and he has since been extradited back to Florida to face charges tied to the ramming incident.
According to WSVN, Miami police tactical robbery detectives were surveilling Ayala's BMW on June 16 near Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 85th Street after the vehicle had been linked to an armed robbery investigated by the Seminole Tribe Police Department, police said. When detectives attempted to stop the car, investigators said Ayala reversed directly into an occupied detective's vehicle, creating enough space to escape and drive away from the attempted stop.
Miami police pursued the BMW, per the arrest report, but Ayala eventually abandoned the car near Northwest Fifth Court and 81st Street and ran on foot. Officers set up a perimeter in the area but were unable to find him that night, leaving him at large for weeks as the case against him mounted.
A Tribal Police Lead That Triggered Surveillance
The Seminole Tribe Police Department, which operates as a sovereign tribal law enforcement agency in Florida with full police authority across tribal lands and properties, frequently coordinates multi-jurisdictional investigations with municipal and county departments, according to the Tampa Bay Times. That kind of cross-agency work is reportedly what put Ayala's BMW on Miami police's radar in the first place, tying an armed robbery probe to the tactical surveillance that preceded the June 16 confrontation.
Ayala now faces charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding police, and resisting an officer without violence, per the arrest report cited by WSVN. Under Florida Statute § 784.07, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer is reclassified as a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of five years in state prison and up to 30 years behind bars, according to the Florida Senate. Separately, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer under Florida Statute § 316.1935 is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and a mandatory driver's license revocation of one to five years, with state law barring judges from withholding adjudication on the charge.
Already a Wanted Man in a Dealership Burglary Ring
Ayala's disappearance after the ramming incident wasn't his first brush with Miami-Dade law enforcement that spring. He had already been identified by the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office as a co-defendant alongside 25-year-old Josmanny Alexis Valdez in an extensive burglary ring accused of targeting Dodge Ram truck infotainment systems at Kendall Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, according to WPLG Local 10.
Arrest reports reviewed by CiberCuba indicate thieves cut through a chain-link fence between May 15 and late May to steal 18 Dodge Ram infotainment systems, each valued at $5,314, while severing wiring harnesses and causing roughly $1,087 in damage per truck across vehicles belonging to 14 service customers. Detectives traced the stolen dealership equipment to Facebook Marketplace listings under profiles including “Laylowjr Ayala” and “Josmanny Valdes,” which led to an undercover buy-bust operation at Dolphin Mall on May 28, where officers arranged to purchase stolen units for $500, Diario Las Américas reported.
While Valdez was taken into custody on June 29 facing more than 20 felony counts and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Ayala was charged with dealing in stolen property and remained a fugitive, according to NBC 6 South Florida. He evaded law enforcement for weeks after that arrest, all while the June 16 ramming case against him was also pending.
Marshals Task Force Tracks Him to Louisiana
Ayala's run ended Monday when U.S. Marshals arrested him in New Orleans. The Marshals Service operates regional fugitive task forces across federal judicial districts, including the Eastern District of Louisiana Task Force, which combine federal, state, and local resources to track interstate fugitives and initiate extradition under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. That framework appears to be how Florida authorities located and apprehended Ayala roughly 700 miles from where he vanished on foot in June.
The case fits a pattern local police have encountered repeatedly. In a April incident Hoodline covered, 34-year-old David Andres Mejia allegedly put a pickup truck into reverse, rammed a vehicle, injured a detective, and led officers on a chase through city streets before crashing. And in November 2024, Miami-Dade police arrested Kevin Paul Prater after he allegedly used his truck as a battering ram against police cruisers during a chase before he was located by MDPD's Aviation Unit, illustrating a recurring tactic among suspects trying to escape South Florida law enforcement.
Ayala is now back in Florida custody to answer for both the ramming case and his outstanding role in the dealership burglary investigation, with formal proceedings on the aggravated battery and fleeing charges expected to move forward following his extradition.
