Carjacking suspect who tampered with ankle monitor caught after weeks on the run: Cops

A carjacking suspect who led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a rollover crash in Miami Beach and later tampered with his ankle monitor while on the run is back in custody, authorities confirmed.

Savalas Cigar was booked into a Miami-Dade jail on Thursday, weeks after he went missing during his house arrest, according to records. Cigar had been placed under house arrest on September 14, following his incarceration since August 12. Just three days later, on September 17, the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department reported that Cigar triggered a tamper alert on his ankle monitor and disappeared.

Details regarding his capture were not immediately available.

Cigar, 46, faces charges of grand theft, fleeing, and aggravated eluding of a police officer. The charges stem from an incident on August 11 when he allegedly carjacked a woman and led police on a pursuit that ended in a rollover crash in Miami Beach the following day.

The victim, Glenda Defas, recounted the terrifying ordeal to NBC6, explaining how she was parking her SUV in Miami when a man approached her asking for money. When she told him she didn’t have any, he threatened her with a hammer.

“I was shaking because the guy was threatening me with a hammer,” Defas said. “‘You’re going to destroy yourself for this and destroy my life?’ I asked.”

Defas walked away, but moments later, the man jumped into her SUV and drove off. Her brother, who is deaf and disabled, was in the vehicle but managed to get out before the suspect took off.

“My brother came running and said, ‘Glenda, the guy took the car,’” she recalled. “It took seven years to pay this car, and finally I had no more payments, and this happened. I feel hopeless, I feel destroyed.”

However, weeks later, Defas received an unexpected act of kindness when Rita Case, CEO of Rick Case Automotive, saw her story on NBC6 and gifted her a new car.