6/12/2014 0:00:00

Arrested man carrying strange cargo
By Wallace Clark

Miami Springs Police arrested a 55-year-old man on Tuesday night and charged him with loitering and prowling and carrying a concealed weapon. Despite the relatively minor charges, police feel that the arrest prevented the potential of a much more serious crime.

Police were called around 9:30 p.m. by a teenage boy who was walking near the Circle. The youth told police a man driving a white van with maroon stripes had been following him for several blocks, blowing kisses and beckoning the youth to the van. Police swarmed into the area, saw the van on the Circle and stopped the vehicle on the outgoing bridge.

The driver was identified as Jose B. Vivar, who gave an address of 2731 N.W. 27 Street in Miami. He told police he had recently moved from Totolochee Drive in Hialeah.

Police searched the van and found a six-inch knife in open view in a driver’s door compartment. Vivar said he uses the knife for laying carpet.

Officers also found an open bottle of rum in the center console, several different types of condoms, lubricant, an empty prescription bottle for Cialis, numerous pornographic movies and magazines, a portable TV with a built-in VCR/CD player, a bottle of Zoloft and several prescriptions for Oxycodone.

Vivar denied driving on the Circle even though he was seen there by police officers. However, when an officer asked Vivar who he was following, he said, “I don’t know who he is.”

Vivar told police he shares his van with his three son and they might own the items found inside.

Since Vivar gave conflicting stories as to why he was in Miami Springs, he was arrested for loitering and prowling. He was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon because of the knife.

A check of Dade-County Jail records on Wednesday afternoon showed that the loitering and prowling charge had been dropped and Vivar had been released for time served on the concealed weapon charge.

A records check revealed that Vivar had previous arrests for loitering and prowling, prostitution and fleeing police.

 

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