Prosecutors link deadly chain thefts to trio

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has announced it is looking into connections between a string of robberies, a murder and the shooting of an off-duty police officer.

City of Miami Police have arrested three suspects prosecutors are calling very dangerous men. Willie Barney, Dedrick Brown and Travares Santiago, prosecutors allege, are connected to several crimes. "We're calling this the crime spree trio," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "Willie Barney had just gotten out of prison, just to give you a little background on this, after having spent two years locked up."

Their crime spree allegedly began in late September, in an area off Northwest Seventh Avenue and 67th Street, where they are accused of shooting Miami-Dade Police Officer Herman Joseph. The officer did survive the shooting. According to police, they robbed him of his jewelry while working as a volunteer maintenance worker outside of a church. That same day, they also robbed another man of his gold chain.

Police said these men are also responsible for targeting a Miami Shores man who was mowing his lawn on Sept. 20. In another situation, just two days earlier, police said, these men were behind a fatal shooting of a man in Miami Gardens for his gold chain.

Police said all the victims were robbed of their gold chains. "We believe that there are a number of other victims out there. We already know we have leads on four other cases," said Fernandez Rundle.

According to prosecutors, they are seeing an increase in these types of crimes because the price of gold has risen in recent years.

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