Hiram Tanco Crispin booking photo Miami Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation
A quick-thinking husband and wife in Florida are still alive after they say they were able to disarm a man who forced his way into their Miami home on Christmas, bound them with electrical cords, held them hostage at gunpoint and robbed them of thousands of dollars.
Miami-Dade Police arrested Hiram Tanco Crispin, 53, on Dec. 26 and charged him with armed robbery home invasion and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records reviewed Wednesday by Law&Crime.
The alleged forced entry happened just around 8 p.m. on Dec. 25 when, according to the victims identified only as Jose and Gladys by local Fox affiliate WSVN, they said Crispin knocked on their door.
Opening it a crack, the couple claims Crispin barged in with gun in hand, telling them not to move and demanding to know how many people were inside.
Police said Crispin then forced the couple into their bedroom and tied them up with electrical cords. He allegedly searched the couple’s house for cash.
Jose told WSVN Crispin kept repeating, “I know you got money” before threatening to torture his wife in front of him if he didn’t turn over any cash.
The Miami resident said Crispin held a gun, which he believed was a .45 mm, to his head and to his temple, as he made the threats.
As Crispin kept pressing him for cash, Jose said he told the 53-year-old robber he had more money in a van parked outside of the home. And for a moment, Crispin agreed to untie Jose and his wife.
Jose said Crispin allegedly set his gun down on a table for just a moment and a scuffle ensued. In the fray, Jose’s wife Gladys said she was able to snatch Crispin’s gun away. Her husband told her to run and get help.
Once she managed her escape, Gladys said she fired the gun into the air somewhat erratically in hopes of drawing attention to herself. Police said a bullet hole was found on a car windshield near the property and the bullet itself was later found stuck in the side of the couple’s van.
“We were so afraid but thank god we are live,” Jose told reporters this week.
The couple does not appear to have had any prior relationship with Crispin, police said.
A public defender assigned to Crispin did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday.
Jail records indicate Crispin is detained and being held without bond in Miami and that as of Dec. 26, he entered a not guilty plea to both felony charges.
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