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Cuban-American Woman Blames Black Men for Firing Shots at Her Vehicle When It Was Really a Security Guard Trying to Stop Her from Stealing

Angela Pupo, a white Cuban-American woman, has been charged with providing false information to police after she said two Black men fired shots into her car, injuring her two daughters. In truth, Pupo was involved in a theft at the Rey Chavez food market in Hialeah, Florida, and a security guard fired the shots at her vehicle as she exited the scene.

According to police, Pupo’s purported accomplice and suspected shoplifter Stedman Amaya was spotted by a security guard running from the store with $200 in lobster tails on Tuesday, July 28. Authorities say when Stedman got into the getaway car Pupo was driving, the security guard, Leonardo Morales Gomez, fired shots at the vehicle. Pupo’s young daughters, ages 6 and 8, were wounded. The younger sister was shot in the knee, and the older one was cut by the glass of a shattered window. The girls’ injuries are not life-threatening.

Angela Pupo and one of her daughters. (Photo: Hialeah Police)

After 32-year-old Pupo arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital with her injured daughters, she told officers her family had been victims of a drive-by shooting. Specifically, Pupo told police that she had “observed two Black males running toward her vehicle.” In her detailed account, she claimed that one of the men was thin “with dreads,” while the other was “heavyset with a low haircut,” as officers questioned her at the hospital.

In addition to facing charges of providing false information, Pupo also faces two counts of child endangerment and one count of petty theft. She eventually admitted that the shooting happened during an attempted theft at the nearby market. Her criminal history includes past convictions on charges like petty theft, grand theft, burglary, and attempted home invasion. Pupo reportedly said she would earn $30 from the theft at the store.

Angela Pupo. (Photo: Hialeah Police)

Morales has also been charged with two counts of attempted manslaughter for firing shots at the vehicle and injuring the two girls while his life was not being threatened. Police are searching for Amaya, who is a felon.

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