FBI raids Doral shop connected to attempted murder of car designer

MIAMI – The FBI has raided a Doral body shop in connection to the investigation of the attempted murder of a Miami celebrity car designer Alex Vega.

On Friday morning, Chopper 4 flew over Doral Collision Center at 2101 NW 97th Ave., where federal agents swarmed the body shop and several Doral Police vehicles were outside.

Rolando "Roly" Ramirez, the owner of the Doral Collision Center and two other men are now charged in connection to the murder-for-hire conspiracy.

Ramirez appeared before a Judge in federal court on Friday afternoon where he learned that he faces charges including soliciting to commit a crime of violence, stalking, discharging a firearm and obstruction of justice.

Ramirez is being held in pre-trial detention pending a hearing next Friday afternoon.

After the hearing, one of his attorneys, David Kubiliun, told CBS News Miami, "I can tell you my client is Roland "Roly" Ramirez and he has known about this for 2 years and he has been 100 percent cooperative and he is proclaiming his innocence and we will vigorously fight the charges against him and he will have his day in court."

Family members say Vega and Ramirez had been partners at Exclusive Motoring which is right next to the Doral Collison Center and Vega left to start his own business.

In a statement for the Vega family, Hoss Hernandez said, "On behalf of the Vega family and this office, we are extremely grateful to the F.B.I. And the United States Attorney's office in the Southern District of Florida for their dedication and hard work in this case."

Vega is also the founder of the vodka brand AVORZA and the brother of Miami Police spokesperson Mike Vega.

On Friday, FBI agents also conducted two other raids in Pinecrest and Aventura.

Another raid in a Pinecrest neighborhood stunned residents. We saw FBI agents loading boxes onto a truck outside a home on the 13,000 block of Southwest 63rd Avenue.

"There was a SWAT team out, and we heard on the bull horn FBI come out with your hands up," a neighbor said.

A property record search found one of the three defendants listed in the indictment, Rasheed Ali lives there. Like Ramirez, he faces all seven charges, including murder for hire.

The third person listed in the indictment is Tam Maso. He faces one charge of obstruction of justice.

Police said Vega was parking his 2019 Land Rover SUV inside the garage of his Kendale Lakes home on the night of Aug. 27, 2019, where security video showed a masked man approaching his car from the driver's side and shooting him several times before running away, CBS News Miami has previously reported .

Vega survived and spoke to CBS News Miami about the attack in November 2019.

"I never did expect something like this to happen to me," he said. "I don't have enemies [and] I never expected for something."

Vega said he believes it could have been possible business rivals.

"I have a successful business," he said. "It could have been because of that -- people who envy or hate you."

Regardless, Vega said the reason "is never good."

"I thank God I am here and we thank the blessings of God," he said.

Two men – the gunman and getaway driver – were convicted of carrying out the plot to kill Vega.