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Crackhead Mugger Turns Himself In

MIAMI, FL – He’s a violent crackhead who punches women and steals cars. But at least he’s contrite.

Armando Pena, 44, mugged Gladys Gonzalez early Tuesday morning as she was arriving for work, punched her in the face, slammed her to the ground, snatched her white Ford Taurus and roared off.

And then he came back 12 minutes later, professing regret for his actions.

To the disbelief of Miami cops and paramedics, Pena parked the car, stepped out, and said, ``I did it. I did it.’‘

They slapped him in handcuffs.

Asked why he punched the woman and shoved her to the pavement, Pena replied, ``drugs, drugs.’‘He admitted smoking crack cocaine minutes before the attack at 1912 SW 17th Ave.

The happy ending might not have happened if not for quick-acting Omar Grass, a Miami officer who had just finished his midnight shift and was driving home in his police cruiser.

Gonzalez, 60, had arrived at the address, the La Arboleda apartment complex, and had stepped out of her car to open a gate to a parking area. She cares for an elderly woman at the complex. That’s when she was mugged.

Grass, 41, was headed home when he saw the white Taurus speed off and Gonzalez sprawled on the ground. He thought it was a hit-and-run.

Rather than pursue the car, Grass went to assist the woman.

’’That kind of thing stays with you,’’ he said. But he radioed in a description of the car and the mugger.

Dispatchers sent other officers to the area to hunt down the fugitive. Miami Fire Rescue also responded. Gonzalez was bleeding from the face and hurt her hand when she went down.

’’When you see that, you think of your own mother,’’ said Officer Jairo Lozano, a 27-year Miami police veteran.

A group of officers and paramedics were tending to Gonzalez, preparing her for the trip to Jackson Memorial Hospital, when the contrite mugger reappeared.

Lozano was the one who cuffed him.

’’He was coherent,’’ Lozano said. ``He knew what he did.’‘

Asked why he came back, the handcuffed Pena said: ``I felt bad.’‘

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