How to Catch A Criminal: The Miami Shootout Part 1

Every officer with a decent amount of time on the job knows the unexpected turns an investigation can take. Seeing a major case through to completion often involves giving up on a theory and taking your investigation in a different direction as new information becomes available. In How to Catch A Criminal, we look at the many ways not-so-perfect crimes are solved. This month, two men can't outrun the law, so they try to run through it.

In 1986, the Federal Bureau of Investigations was nearing the end of an investigation into a pair of bank robbers who had struck repeatedly in the Miami area. FBI agents knew what the suspects were driving. When they located the vehicle, what should have been a high-risk traffic stop and a pair of arrests, became one of the darkest days in FBI history, as well as a pivotal moment for all of law enforcement.

This article appeared in the July/August issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.

On Oct. 4, 1985, 25-year-old Emilio Briel was reported missing after he didn’t return home from a day of target shooting in a rock quarry South of Miami. He and his gold Chevrolet Monte Carlo were nowhere to be found, and his disappearance would be unexplained for eight months. His remains weren’t discovered until March 1986. He had been shot and killed and dumped in the Florida Everglades.

On October 10, 1985, two men attempted to rob a Wells Fargo armored car at a Miami supermarket. They drew weapons on the three guards and ordered them to freeze. One of the robbers fired and rounds were exchanged before the two men fled in their vehicle, failing to steal any money. One guard was struck in the leg by gunfire, and later died from the wound. The two robbers’ next move was to rob a Miami bank in November 1985. This time, they managed to steal $40,000. They struck again in January 1986, ambushing an armored car, shooting the guard in the back with a shotgun and twice more with a .223 rifle. The guard survived the shooting, but $54,000 was stolen. A witness saw the men flee in what turned out to be Emilio Briel’s gold Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The vehicle was abandoned nearby, but the robbers were long gone.

On March 12, 1986, at the same rock quarry from which Emilio Briel went missing, 30-year-old Jose Collazo was target shooting when he was approached by two men. They chatted with Collazo briefly before pulling guns on him. Collazo was shot three times and his wallet, mini 14 rifle and black Chevrolet Monte Carlo were stolen. Collazo survived the shooting and walked three miles to find help. He was able to report the incident to police and provide descriptions of the two men, which resulted in composite sketches.

On March 19, the same two men used Collazo’s car as their getaway vehicle, as well as his rifle to threaten staff during a robbery of the Barnett Bank in Miami. Since the black Monte Carlo and Mini 14 rifle matched Jose Collazo’s, the two men in the composite sketches had to be the Miami bank robbers, as well as Emilio Briel and the armored car guard’s killers.

The FBI created a task force to catch the Miami Bank robbers, led by Supervisory Special Agent Gordon McNeill, a 20-year FBI veteran. Under his command were Special Agents Richard Manauzzi, Benjamin Grogan, Edmundo Mireles, Jerry Dove, John Hanlon, Gilbert Orrantia and Ronald Risner. On the morning of April 11, 1986, the task force met to coordinate a rolling surveillance operation. Given the robberies had all occurred in the area of the South Dixie Highway, their patrols would be focused there. The units all had their assignments and began driving the streets, keeping their eyes peeled for two men in a Black ‘82 Monte Carlo.

It didn’t take long for the operation to pay off. At 9:32, Agent Grogan radioed in that he and Agent Dove were tailing a black Monte Carlo on South Dixie Highway. The plate number belonged to Jose Collazo’s stolen car. There were two men inside the car, most likely armed.

Agents Mireles and Hanlon caught up to Grogan and Dove, who activated their siren and emergency lights to begin the stop. The Monte Carlo began to flee until Agent Manauzzi caught up to the chase perpendicularly at an intersection and rammed the vehicle two times. This caused the suspect vehicle to slide into a parking area off the shoulder of the road, striking a tree head on. The vehicle was partially pinned against a parked vehicle on the passenger side, and Manauzzi’s car on the driver’s side. Grogan and Dove stopped behind the suspects, with Mireles, Hanlon, Orrantia and Risner stopping on nearby corners. Supervisory Special Agent McNeil stopped next to Manauzzi’s car, facing the opposite direction. The suspects were surrounded, and McNeil ordered the men in the car to put their hands up. The two men inside, later identified as William Matix and Michael Platt, had other intentions.

Thirty-one-year-old William Matix and 34 -year-old Michael Platt met in the mid-1970s while they worked as military police officers. Matix was honorably discharged in 1976, and Platt in 1979. They remained long-distance friends and their lives remained uneventful until late December 1983 when Matix’s wife and one of her coworkers were murdered. Patricia Matix and Joyce McFadden were found bound and gagged with their throats slashed in the laboratory of Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Matix was considered a suspect in the murders, but the case remains unsolved to this day. Eventually, Matix moved to Florida to start a landscaping business with Platt.

Incredibly, Platt’s wife also had a violent, untimely death. In Late December 1984, Regina Platt was found dead from a shotgun blast to the mouth. Her death was ruled a suicide, but there were doubts. It was even theorized that Platt and Matix killed each other’s wives, however, this was never proven. Platt also remarried in 1985. Platt and Matix’s work together didn’t stop at landscaping. They decided to earn money through less legitimate means, and soon found they made a great team at that as well.

Check Officer.com in September for the conclusion of this story.