Michael Hudak, 29, a reporter for WSVN-ABC Miami in South Florida, was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade, Florida, on Thursday afternoon after being charged with felony counts of grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, dealing in stolen property, and using a false verification at a pawn shop.
Hudak turned himself in to Miami Police Headquarters located at 400 NW 2nd Avenue in Miami.
Bond was later set Friday morning at $6,000 for two of the charges, while bond on the other two counts was “to be set”, according to court documents.
Police said the victim, a neighbor of Hudak, was on holiday in Spain for two weeks in July. When the neighbor returned home, he noticed one of his Rolex watches was missing, and yet the house seemed unmolested and without any signs of forcible entry.
Several weeks after the incident was reported, police informed the victim that his watch had been pawned at a local Miami pawnshop.
The investigation identified Michael Hudak as the individual who pawned the $16,000 Rolex for a $7,000 bargain.
According to police documents, Hudak signed the transaction form, placed his right thumbprint on the document, and used his own Florida-issued driver’s license during the sale of the stolen item, detectives wrote in a report.
The neighbor stated that he had been aware that the only person who would have had access to the home was Hudak. The victim had given Hudak a key to his home prior to leaving for Spain, in case of an emergency.
Hudak began working for WSVN in November 2023 after working at WINK News in Fort Myers. WSVN removed Hudak’s professional profile from their website on Thursday.
WSVN said in a statement that Hudak “has been suspended without pay at this time.”
