SmartStop Self Storage Burglar Caught In Ceiling And On Video

Here's a classic "Florida man" story.

34-year-old Tyvarius Tygwyan Straoudmattison had the bright idea to break into a SmartStop Self Storage facility at 1235 NE 12th Ave in Homestead over the Fourth of July. What he did not count on was his Independence Day heist being captured on video by previous victims of his crimes.

One of the victims, who asked not to be identified, told reporters that Straoudmattison had been hitting this business for at least the last couple of days. “I noticed that almost $25,000 of my items was gone,” he said.

Angry over the theft, the victim says he decided to stakeout the SmartStop overnight. In the morning, Straoudmattison returned but this time his thievery was met with much less success.

Through the facility's large windows, the victim and others spotted Straoudmattison's legs dangling the from ceiling and promptly began to film it. “We noticed that the individual was actually jumping from unit to unit,” said the victim. “The technique that he used, it was actually through the ceiling.”

In the video, he struggles to pull himself up, causing damage along the way. The cellphone videographers can be heard laughing as the man flails his legs.

"He's gonna fall!" says one of the witnesses.

"Good, let him!" responds another, shortly before Straoudmattison does, in fact, fall.

Homestead Police officers soon took center stage, capturing Straoudmattison and taking him away in handcuffs. He now faces several charges, which include burglary to an unoccupied structure, grand theft, and resisting an officer without violence.