Deerfield Beach hostage suspect found dead inside recreational vehicle

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:45:03 GMT

Police said the suspected gunman in a hostage situation in Deerfield Beach has been found dead inside the recreational vehicle where he had barricaded himself along with at least one hostage.

The Broward Sheriff's Office SWAT discovered the suspect's body along with the body of a child early Friday morning.

A woman and another child were badly injured. She was sent to North Broward Medical Center in critical condition, and the boy was transported to Broward General, also in critical condition.

Their names, along with the names of the suspect and deceased child, have not yet been released.

Deputies were called to the Highlands Woods trailer park on Northeast 48th Street at about 6 p.m. after a man was found with a gunshot wound outside the RV.

The injured man died on scene.

A man inside the RV told deputies he was holding hostages.

The gunman allowed an adult woman to leave the RV at 7:30 p.m. She was unharmed.

Deputies said the gunman was holding at least one man inside the mobile home.

The gunman was not making any demands, but threatened to shoot officers and the hostages, said deputies.

"He is still refusing to come out. He is still making threats," said Dani Moschella with Broward Sheriff's Office late Thursday.

As of 11 p.m., hostage negotiators were talking to the gunman and trying to coerce him to release his other hostages.

Northeast 48th Street was closed from Dixie Highway to Northeast 3rd Avenue.

People in the neighboring mobile home park were on lockdown. Residents of Highlands Woods were asked to stay in their homes.

"A sniper came along the wall. And then he's like, 'What are you doing?' 'I'm just watching.' And he's like, 'You shouldn't be here -- you're in the line of fire,'" said witness Victor Fernandez.

Training mine found off S. Fla. coast

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:53:37 GMT

What was believed to be a mine floating off the South Florida coast was actually a training aid, said U.S. Navy bomb technicians.

The U.S. Coast Guard said a good Samaritan discovered the cylinder floating in the water 1 mile east of Dania Beach on Thursday.

The Coast Guard set up 3-mile perimeter in the area where it was found.

Air traffic also was halted above the same area.

The cylinder eventually made its way south about 1,200 yards off Hollywood Beach.

U.S. Navy bomb technicians determined that it was actually a training mine.

Hollywood police said the cylinder would be removed and towed to the Fort Lauderdale Coast Guard station.

The Broward Sheriff's Office evacuated the beach near Dania Pier at about 1:40 p.m. as a precaution but later allowed people to return.

Fla. law allows lenders to collect years after foreclosure

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:58:18 GMT

For some homeowners, a foreclosure or short sale is the only way out of an underwater mortgage.

But what homeowners don't realize is that they may still owe the bank after the home is long gone.

Florida law allows lenders to file for a judgment up to five years after the foreclosure. Those lenders are being granted deficiency judgments, giving them years to try and collect from borrowers.

Dottie, who did not want us to use her last name, felt like she was running out of options.

"I tried to, for a while, pay for everything. To keep up both mortgage payments with two different banks. And it just got impossible, so it brought me to the state of having to do a short sale," said Dottie.

Many people think they will simply take a credit hit, but that's not always true.

"I got a letter and found out I am still liable for the rest of my amount. It was over $100,000," she said.

Attorney Larry Tolchinsky said he sees it all the time.

"They thought it was over and they could put all this behind them. People are hoping that's going to happen but unfortunately it's really not," said Tolchinsky.

After the judgment, banks and mortgage insurers have 20 years to try and collect, so they can watch and wait for a person's financial picture to improve.

Shari Olefson represents the banks.

"They are trying to save taxpayers money of having to subsidize these losses. So the new banks are in a rock and a hard place and, in some instances, they have to pursue deficiency," said Olefson.

For Dottie, the thought of owing money on a house she no longer owned was shocking.

Often banks try settling with borrowers or they sell claims to collection agencies for pennies on the dollar, which is what she did.

"You have no idea the relief the weight was lifted off my shoulders when I finally got that last letter saying you have no more obligation to this company," said Dottie.

Boy, 17, injured in drive-by shooting

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:05:59 GMT

A 17-year-old boy was shot Thursday when someone opened fire into a group of teenagers walking home from school in Liberty City, Miami police said.

The shooting occurred at Northwest 10th Avenue and 62nd Street.

Miami police said the 17-year-old boy and some friends were walking south on Northwest 10th Avenue toward 62nd Street when someone inside a northbound car pulled out a gun and started shooting.

The 17-year-old boy, identified by family members as Brandon Allen, was shot once in the chest.

"He was shot upon. It appears to be a drive-by at this moment," said Sgt. Freddie Cruz, of the Miami Police Department.

Allen was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in extremely critical condition, police said.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear.

Allen's stepfather, Robert Lee, said he was being prepared for surgery Thursday afternoon. Lee showed up at the shooting scene angry and concerned.

"I don't know what provoked it or nothing. The only thing I know is a car came up and started shooting into a crowd of kids," Lee said. "To hear these kids out here shooting one another -- why don't you go out old-school and fight? You ain't got to pick up no gun. Be a real man and fight. Somebody knows something. Please turn this man in, this boy in, whatever you want to call him -- please."

Family members said Allen is a junior at Northwestern Senior High School, where he plays basketball and football.

"He's an outstanding child, very athletic," Lee said. "I don't know what this came from."

Miami police said they found several bullet casings on the ground.

The search for the shooter continues.

Mayor?s family members arrested in campaign fund probe

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:15:07 GMT

Three family members of Opa-locka Mayor Myra Taylor have been arrested on charges related to contributions to her 2010 election campaign, Miami-Dade police said Thursday.

John Taylor, the mayor’s husband, Demetrius Taylor, her son, and Elvira Smith, her sister, each face charges of making campaign contributions in excess of $500, accepting campaign contributions in excess of $500, evidence tampering and conspiring to violate the elections code, all third-degree felonies, as well as a first-degree misdemeanor count of conspiring to tamper with evidence.

Police said the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Public Corruption Investigations Bureau and the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust began investigating shortly after Myra Taylor’s November 2010 election.

Investigators found that more than $6,000 in illegal campaign contributions were funneled through two companies owned or operated by Myra Taylor’s family members -- Vankara: A Learning Exchange Inc. and New Beginnings of South Florida Inc., according to police.

In a news release Thursday, Miami-Dade police said John Taylor, Demetrius Taylor and Smith “conspired to fabricate invoices in an effort to cover up the true source of the campaign contributions.”

The three were arrested after a search warrant was executed Wednesday at New Beginnings Enrichment Center.

John Taylor, Demetrius Taylor and Smith are being held at the Miami-Dade County Jail.

12-foot gator spotted in Plantation neighborhood

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:26:54 GMT

It’s not unusual to see an alligator in Jacaranda Lakes, the community is surrounded by canals. But the 6-, 7- and 8-footers are small compared to the monster that residents said has been lurking in the water recently.

From the tip of its tail to the end of its nose, the big gator looks to be all of 12 feet long.

A slightly frightened Nichelle Lopez took some shaky video of the beast Monday. It was lying on the bank just across the canal from the home she shares with her mother-in-law and 1-year-old son.

"We've seen already the gator doesn't care if somebody is standing there. He swims toward you, so how do we know if he's going to attack somebody else?" Lopez told Local 10's Roger Lohse.

She said the grim discovery earlier this week of a half-eaten dog floating in the canal has them particularly concerned. On Thursday morning, Lopez captured video of the gator toying with the carcass.

"These gators are eating animals -- dogs, ducks, everything in the lake -- and we're seeing that. That's not good," said Patricia Lopez, Lopez's mother-in-law.

It's unclear to whom the dog belongs. A licensed trapper placed a big piece of chicken on a hook and hung it over the water behind the Lopez home, just daring the big reptiles to take the bait.

But not everyone is pushing the panic alarm.

"I'm not going to bother the gator, and the gator is not going to bother me," said Karen Maisel who lives across the canal and had an 8-foot alligator perched in her back yard for most of the day.

Maisel said the big gator is new to the neighborhood, and all of the others keep to themselves. She enjoys the wild side of living in western Broward County and said she's learned to keep her small teacup Yorkshire terrier named Capone close to her.

"There are hawks. There are eagles. I'm not going to trust Capone's welfare to wildlife at large," Maisel said.

Miami to install diaper changing stations

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:44:10 GMT

City of Miami office buildings and parks will soon be getting 165 diaper changing stations installed in bathrooms.

The changing stations were championed by Commissioner Frank Carollo, who discovered there were no changing stations in men’s rooms at City Hall. For the last year, he has taken his daughter, Brianna Isabella, to his City Hall office, but was forced to change her diaper in his office.

“She brought an awareness to me about this and then I realized that lots of parents who take their small children to city parks and buildings had no place to change diapers.” Carollo said.

The Miami Commission voted unanimously to install the diaper changing stations, but not before Armando Aguilar, President of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, voiced strong objections.

“This is something nice to have but not at this time,” he said.

Aguilar argued that the Miami Police Department is short of equipment and the money would be better spent buying it.

Carollo and Aguilar had several sharp exchanges after which Carollo said he would raise the money for the changing stations from private donors.

Lamberti retiring?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:54:49 GMT

I got a good reminder Wednesday morning about the power of social media. Just to create a little buzz, I said on my Facebook page that I was thinking about retirement after 34 years at the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

"Thinking about retirement this Wednesday morning. After all, 34 years is a long time to work for the same agency."

Well, the reaction was fast, and in some cases, furious!

It was gratifying to see so many expressions of support and I felt I had to set the record straight right away.

I never had any intention of retiring and I apologized to those supporters who felt disappointed or dismayed by my offhand pronouncement. Again, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has been my home for 34 years. Retiring would be like running away from home.

I have loved the Broward Sheriff’s Office for more than three decades and I enjoy being Sheriff of Broward County, despite all the issues and concerns that I have to deal with every day.

These past few years have been a challenge for most Americans, including those of us in public service.

In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, as Broward County grew and thrived, the Broward Sheriff’s Office kept pace, becoming a little larger, with a little larger budget, every year.

Under my leadership, I found it necessary to scale back our workforce by about 600 employees and we haven’t been able to compensate most of the dedicated employees who continue to serve as much as they deserve. We are all working smarter and harder, doing more with less.

So, I’m not ready to retire. There is still too much to do and so much more that I hope to accomplish.

Again, to my Facebook friends, I am sorry if I caught you off-guard, but I feel very blessed to know that I have so much friendship and support out there on the worldwide web.

Will: LeBron can't win until he wins

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:48:32 GMT

It's just about that time of the season again to have someone criticize LeBron James. Actually, it's been so quiet of late, we have two cases of people ripping the Heat forward.

First off, Thunder center Kendrick Perkins. He wasn't happy about a tweet James made last week, so Perkins says LeBron is just always looking for attention. Of course, he failed to mention Blake Griffin's monster dunk over him was the talk of the NBA and Twitter. Plenty of athletes, including NBA players, tweeted about the spectacular play that was shown over and over on highlight shows. Yet, Perkins decides to strike back at LeBron. Even worse, he did it a week after LeBron made the tweet,

Next up is Larry Bird. Yes, the NBA Hall-of-Famer and Pacers executive. He claims he'd rather play with Kobe Bryant, instead of James. He also added that LeBron would be "more fun" to play with, but Bryant is someone you win with.

It's hard to argue that, since Kobe has 5 rings. We all know LeBron has yet to win a title. Again, it would be nice to point out that Kobe has had significantly more talent around him during his career then James. Then again, these little facts never seem to matter when it comes to LeBron.

If I'm coming across as someone trying to defend a local player in James, well, trust me, that's not the point. I cover James, but I can't say I truly know him. I've talked to plenty of people who do know him. I spent a few days in his hometown of Akron, Ohio and met many of his childhood friends. They described a guy who's always been in the spotlight. James has always been considered the next "great" player. Problem is, while his stats have been amazing, he has yet to win a championship. Because of that, he's an easy target.

LeBron could probably help himself a little by avoiding that spotlight, but then again, it's hard to do that after over a decade of constant attention.

If Joel Anthony tweets about that Griffin dunk, no one cares. When LeBron does it, he's just an attention seeking egomaniac.

I have no doubt that James does have a big ego, but is he much different than most NBA stars? I saw Kobe first-hand hamming it up for the cameras after a Lakers loss in Miami last season. He spent over an hour shooting after the game, and reporters, like me, ate up every moment as a showcase of what makes Bryant so great.

If LeBron did that, it'd be perceived as James looking for attention again. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. That pretty much summarizes life as LeBron James.

They only thing he can to do to change that perception is to win an NBA championship. He's got Miami off to a great start, while having an MVP-type first half of the season. He's doing everything he can to finally get that missing piece on his resume, and all everyone wants to talk about is a tweet and comparisons to Kobe.

Again, I'm not here to defend LeBron. I'm just here to point out the obvious; until he wins an NBA title, LeBron James is the easiest target to criticize in sports.

Lights out: Neon signs gone horribly wrong

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:16:37 GMT

We're pretty sure that the owners of these fine establishments aren't getting the right kind of exposure from their neon signs.

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