Downtown Orlando Camera Catches Brutal Robbery

Police are catching criminals with their new IRIS cameras. One camera showed robbers badly beating a man to steal his iPhone. Minutes later, police showed up and arrested them.

SURVEILLANCE: Brutal Robbery Caught On Police Camera

An Orlando police officer watched the attack live on one of the department's cameras. It was installed under I-4 in downtown Orlando.

The cameras first went online just a few years ago and police say they are adding dozens more because they work. The most recent attack was all caught on camera.

On the video, three men can be seen getting out of their SUV, walking over to a man sitting down next to a vehicle, beating him and robbing him.

"In Lot 9, got one person who looks to be unconscious. Is there another unit that can be 51 to Lot 9?" police dispatch says on the video.

The attack was caught on Orlando police surveillance cameras. It happened last weekend under I-4 at the intersection of Bob Snow Lane and Hughey Avenue. An officer monitoring the cameras in police headquarters saw what was going on and dispatched officers who arrested the suspects minutes later.

"When we are monitoring them in the right place and the camera is positioned in the right location, they can be phenomenal visual evidence, we don't have to say what happened. It's right there," said Barb Jones, Orlando Police Department.

Police say the cameras are paying off. Since being installed in 2008, police have recorded 100 crimes and made at least 20 arrests. Orlando police monitor more than 70 cameras; each one costs $7,000, a price they say is well worth every penny.

"When you have a crime like this, all the money that was invested in these cameras, doggone well paid off," Jones said.

The suspects involved in the attack under I-4 were arrested and charged with battery, robbery, and grand theft. The victim was hospitalized and is expected to survive.

A series of new cameras are expected to be installed around Lake Eola and the I-Drive area in about six months.

The IRIS crime cameras have been a big success in Orange County. Earlier this month, the MetroWest Homeowners Association announced plans to buy nearly a dozen cameras.

Orlando already has 70 cameras downtown and along I-drive and plans to add 30 more over the next six months.