FBI raids Florida auto shop over shooting of celebrity car designer
Raid led to arrest of body shop owner
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The FBI and Florida police raided a Miami-area auto body shop on Friday as part of their investigation into the 2019 attempted murder-for-hire of a celebrity car designer, local media reports.
FBI agents and Doral Police were seen stationed outside the Doral Collision Center on Friday as they continue to investigate the attempted killing of Alex Vega, a car designer to the stars who has customized high-end vehicles for Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, singer Marc Anthony, and rapper Rick Ross.
The Independent has contacted the FBI and the Doral police for comment.
The operation resulted in the arrest of the body shop’s owner, Rolando “Roly” Martinez, who denied any wrongdoing.
“Roly has known about this investigation for over two years,” his lawyer toldThe Miami Herald. “We have told the government he is innocent and he will be vigorously fighting these charges.”
Two others have been arrested as part of the plot, in which a masked man approached Vega as he pulled into his home garage in Kendall, Florida, and shot him multiple times at close range before fleeing.
Police say two men, Jaime Serrano and Julian Jimenez, flew to Miami from New York, rented a car, and stalked Vega before the attempted killing.
Serrano was later found guilty of stalking, conspiring to use a firearm, and gun charges, and Jimenez pleaded guilty to the same charges before trial.
Prosecutors have not charged anyone for paying for the murder-for-hire scheme, but CBS News Miami reports he could appear in Miami federal court as soon as Friday afternoon.
After the 2019, Vega, who runs the Auto Firm in Kendall, said he didn’t know why he was targeted.
"I never did expect something like this to happen to me," he said. "I don’t have enemies [and] I never expected for something."
The Doral Collision Center neighbors Exclusive Motoring Worldwide, a business where Vega used to be a partner, before a dispute that resulted in the auto designer losing his part in the company in 2019, NBC Miami reports.