Del’Neco Streeter

A clever University of Miami student retrieved his stolen laptop after luring a reward-seeking suspect to a meeting where campus police were waiting.

According to the Coral Gables and UM Police Departments, the student reported the theft to UM police about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5; his MacBook Pro was stolen sometime the previous day from his dorm room.

“The victim was able to place an electronic message on the screen of his laptop indicating that he was willing to pay $1,000 for its return,” Coral Gables police said in a press release.

Later in the evening, the student received a call from a man who said he had the laptop and wanted the reward. They agreed to meet outside the BankAtlantic Center on the UM campus.

Shortly before 9 p.m., a car approached the waiting student. A man got out, handed over the MacBook to the student and asked for the reward. When UM police emerged to arrest the suspect, he ignored orders to stop and ran away while the driver sped off, according to police reports. A chase ensued and police established a perimeter around the area.

At 9:13 p.m., campus police issued a message via the Emergency Notification Network to the alert university community to the police activity. The university later apologized for the “incomplete and insensitive” ENN wording, which referred to a “black male on campus” and a brief physical description but no hint of the crime. An “all-clear” update was sent at 9:49 p.m.

Around 3:30 a.m. Thursday, a Gables officer and his K-9 companion found one suspect, identified as Del’Neco Streeter, 21, of Miami, hiding in the sixth-floor stairwell of the Pavia parking garage at UM, according to the arrest affidavit.

“At no time were weapons used in the incident and no injuries were reported,” according to the statement from UM.

Streeter was transported to UM police headquarters and charged with dealing in stolen property and resisting arrest before being taken to Miami-Dade County Jail.

The driver abandoned the car in another area of campus and remains at large; the investigation continues.