Hillsborough County Resident Pleads Guilty to Shooting at Police Following Armed Robbery of South Beach Hotel

A Hillsborough County resident pled guilty to all counts of a Superseding Indictment charging him with armed robbery of the Ocean Five Hotel on South Beach, discharging a firearm at a Miami Beach Police Department officer while fleeing after the robbery, and unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition as a previously convicted felon.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Ari C. Shapira, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and Richard M. Clements, Chief, City of Miami Beach Police Department, made the announcement.

According to the court record, including the stipulated factual proffer, on March 8, 2019, Terence Wendell Daniely II, 34, robbed the valet attendant at the Ocean Five Hotel on South Beach using a 9mm caliber pistol.  Daniely’s possession of this pistol was illegal, as he had previously been convicted of numerous felony offenses, narcotics distribution, carrying a firearm in connection with narcotics distribution, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Following the armed robbery of the Ocean Five Hotel, a Miami Beach Police Department officer spotted Daniely fleeing in a white Dodge Challenger.  As this officer approached, Daniely discharged his pistol from within his moving vehicle in the direction of the officer, shattering the windshield of Daniely’s vehicle.  Daniely then instigated a high-sped car chase, recklessly driving and leading officers across the MacArthur Causeway and into the City of Miami.  Daniely crashed his car near Overtown and fled foot.  A perimeter was established and, several hours later, the Defendant was ultimately located hiding in a shed in the backyard of a private residence.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 22, 2019, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.  Daniely faces up to life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment at sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, ATF, and Miami Beach Police Department in this matter.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael B. Homer.