Frank Cairo, Spanish Language TV Host, Caught On Tape Allegedly Burglarizing Neighbor (VIDEO)

An Emmy-winning Spanish language television host and producer who has worked with Telemundo, Univision, Mega TV, and Azteca America, was caught on video allegedly taking items from a neighbor's house and charged with theft.

On April 29, 48-year-old Frank Cairo, whose real name is Ivan Valdés, and friend Jorge Acuña Arias, 47, reportedly entered a Doral neighbor's screened-in porch, looked through windows, and stole lawn furniture and a rug valued at $500.

When the owner, who lives part-time in Mexico, returned home and found the items missing, he reviewed his surveillance video and asked other neighbors to help him identity the two men, reports El Nuevo Herald. Watch the footage above.

While being transported to Miami-Dade County Jail on Thursday, Valdés thanked reporters for their coverage and said he makes too much money to have committed the crime.

"My love," he told a reporter in Spanish, according to a WSVN translator, "I earn more than a half million dollars a year. I don't need to steal chairs from KMart. I love KMart. Behind the video, there is a story."

"The fact of the matter is, these homeowners were very afraid, " Doral Chief Rick Gomez said in a press conference. "How would you feel, as a homeowner, and you're looking at video, and somebody's trying to break in your house?"

Valdés later admitted to the theft, according to WSVN 7, but said he thought the apartment was abandoned -- a common occurrence in South Florida, ground zero for the foreclosure crisis.

"But when you look at the video," Gomez told reporters, "the house isn't abandoned. It's just a vacation home for these people."

NBC Miami reports Valdés bonded out of jail early Friday morning, but his charge could mean 3-5 years behind bars.

According to his bio on Azteca America, where Valdés most recently worked, he was born and raised in Miami. In 1982, he began his TV career with the show "Juventud Miami." He later became the host of Telemundo's "Estrenos y Estrellas" and helped produced shows at Univision, even launching "El Show de Cristina," which got him his first Emmy. He has since won three more Emmy awards.