Top Miami Area Local News Stories
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<p> Two people were arrested late Wednesday following a police chase.</p><p> The chase ended on Hollywood Boulevard west of Interstate 95 about 10 p.m.</p><p> About 50 cars, including officers from Florida Highway Patrol, Hollywood police, and Miami-Dade police, were all on scene.</p><p> Police said two robbery suspects were inside the car being chased. Police said someone inside the vehicle opened fire, but police did not say who was the intended target.</p><p> Officers chased the suspects from Opa-locka up I-95. Witnesses said the cars reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.</p><p> Police said the suspects exited at Pembroke Road before getting back on I-95 and exiting again at Hollywood Boulevard.</p><p> The suspects then got out of their car near the Tri-Rail station.</p><p> One suspect was caught shortly afterwards. </p><p> The second suspect was shot. Police did not say who shot the second suspect. He was taken to Hollywood Memorial, and was expected to be okay.</p><p> Hollywood Boulevard was shut down at about 10 p.m. while police investigated.</p><p> The names of the suspects were not immediately released.</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:12:51 GMT
<p> All eastbound and westbound lanes of S.R. 836 were closed late Wednesday so crews could install an overhead message sign.</p><p> Lanes from Northwest 57th Avenue to 72nd Avenue were shut down at 11 p.m. They will be reopened at 5 a.m. Thursday.</p><p> Later Thursday, all westbound lanes from Northwest 57th Avenue to 72 Avenue will be closed at 11 p.m. so crews can finish installing the sign.</p><p> Those lanes will reopen at 5 a.m. Friday.</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:50:36 GMT
<p> Miami-Dade police investigating an arson fire at a Michael's craft stored clear a woman seen on surveillance video about when the fire started.</p><p> Three different fires were set inside the store at 12425 N. Kendall Dr. on Feb. 8.</p><p> The fires caused about $50,000 in damage.</p><p> Surveillance video captured a woman pushing a stroller, who was considered a person of interest, according to Miami-Dade police.</p><p> Police said the woman came forward and detectives said she has nothing to do with the fire.</p><p> Anyone with information is urged to call police.</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:41:35 GMT
<p> The Broward Sheriff’s Office is searching for two men who sexually assaulted a woman at gunpoint and then robbed her Thursday morning in Lauderdale Lakes. </p><p> Investigators said a 48-year-old woman walked to the One United Bank at 2412 N. State Road 7 at about 5:30 a.m. to meet a co-worker who was giving her a ride to work. When she arrived at the bank, police said, a man on a bicycle and a man who was walking approached her. </p><p> Police Fliers: English | Creole</p><p> BSO said one of the men pointed a gun on her and forced her behind some bushes near the bank’s drive-through teller area, while the other man hit and choked her, pushing her to the ground. </p><p> The men sexually battered the woman, stole her purse and phone and left, BSO said. </p><p> "Very violent -- we're not releasing to you guys all of the details of this brutal crime, but I can tell you it was brutal," said Keyla Concepcion, of BSO.</p><p> The incident was captured on surveillance video.</p><p> "You see one man running away. You see the second one follow behind him on a bike," Concepcion said. "We're just hoping that these two pieces of video can help jog someone's memory."</p><p> The woman was taken to the Sexual Assault Treatment Center. </p><p> Investigators have been handing out fliers in the neighborhood in the hope of finding someone with information about the attackers.</p><p> The search for the men, both of whom wore all black clothing, continues. BSO said one of the attackers was tall, and the other was short. </p><p> Anyone with information is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:00:48 GMT
<p> It was another emotional day in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom Wednesday as a second jilted lover of the so-called “Sweetheart Swindler” took the stand.</p><p> Sheila Brissault spent most of the day testifying against 57-year old Paul Francois, a South Florida man she once thought she would marry.</p><p> Francois, who is out on bond, sat motionless as Brissault described how a seemingly perfect guy romanced her over the phone into a planned engagement that would be followed with a ploy that left her out more than $100,000.</p><p> Brissault, with tears in her eyes, told the court that Francois’ brother introduced the two and the courtship began almost immediately. Francois’ brother was a cab driver in New York in 2007, and Brissault was a New York resident. Francois lived in Davie.</p><p> “I met him for the first time July 1,” Brissault told Local 10’s Terrell Forney. “I came down to Florida and I gave him a $50,000 check.”</p><p> Brissault expressed her reservations, but Francois insisted he needed the cash to purchase a home the two would share in South Florida. Brissault opened a joint bank account and deposited even more cash, but the money would soon disappear, she said, just like the man she first thought was only after her heart.</p><p> Brissault didn’t know that Francois was already living with Rose Marie Anglade at the time, who also said she fell victim to the same scheme.</p><p> On Tuesday in the same Broward County courtroom, Anglade tearfully described how Francois won her over by appearing to be the perfect gentleman. After several months, she, too, opened a joint bank account and deposited $283,000 into it, believing the money would be used for a future home.</p><p> Anglade saved the cash from a home she sold in New York before the planned move and marriage with Francois.</p><p> “I would like to have all my money back,” said Brissault.</p><p> Defense attorneys have argued that Francois was indeed in love and that the women handed over their cash freely.</p><p> “I think he’s a coward. He’s a criminal. He’s a heartless man,” said Brissault.</p><p> Francois has been charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud and two counts of grand theft. Each of the grand theft charges alone carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison if convicted.</p><p> Prosecutors believe Francois used his daughter to cash many of the checks, and on the witness stand Tuesday, his daughter testified she did make those bank runs but claimed she was unaware of where the money came from.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:50:56 GMT
<p> Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn is teaming up with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to help improve student performance and quality of life.</p><p> As an actress best known for her work in comedy, Hawn is deadly serious about improving the lives of American schoolchildren. Her 9-year-old foundation has learned about improving the lives of schoolchildren, and Hawn wants to apply those lessons in Miami-Dade classrooms.</p><p> "Let's bring in a scientist. Let's bring in a positive psychologist. Let's bring in a neurobiologist. Let's bring in our teachers. Let's bring in somebody from contemplative. Because I know that if you create a program that has that holistic approach to the child, the whole way is to embed it in the classrooms itself," Hawn said.</p><p> The schools involved in the program in Miami-Dade will be Coconut Palm K-8 Academy and William Lehman Elementary School.</p><p> Local 10 asked Hawn what brings her to work in South Florida.</p><p> "To tell you the truth, I've been working with some people here in other areas, and Miami-Dade was always a focus of mine -- always," Hawn said. "One of the reasons was that it is a challenged school district. It's the fourth-largest school district, and we work district to district. So, we're in Newark, N.J., we're in Minneapolis, we're in Chicago. I thought Miami would be a very important place. Also, we have connections to research down here."</p><p> Hawn said the research connection is with the University of Miami.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:24:42 GMT
<p> A flight attendant’s attempt at poking fun at his own company, American Airlines, may be getting him into some trouble with his bosses.</p><p> Gailen David, a Miami-based flight attendant, has garnered a big following with his Internet videos and the character he created.</p><p> VOTE: Should airline fire employee? </p><p> David's evil, drawling boss lady taps into the frustration of every put-upon corporate worker. In real life, David is one of those workers. He is a tenured flight attendant with American Airlines who is unsure of his future as the company reorganizes in bankruptcy.</p><p> "I don't want to inflict damage on the company to where it's going to hurt the workers and it's going to hurt the customers. But, I do want a lesson to be learned by management," David said.</p><p> David launched his alter-ego on sick leave from the company. He used to present for American Airlines at company meetings.</p><p> "I filtered myself constantly because I was trying to be what American Airlines corporate wanted me to be," David said.</p><p> In a statement to Local 10, American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks said, "We look forward to discussing these matters when he returns to work and is certified as ready to fly."</p><p> Click here to watch the videos.</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:53:30 GMT
<p> Two suspects in the burning of a 15-year-old boy in 2009 learned their sentences Wednesday.</p><p> Jesus Mendez pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree attempted murder in the October 2009 attack on Michael Brewer.</p><p> VIDEO: Brewer family reacts</p><p> Mendez, then 16 years old, Denver Jarvis and Matthew Bent, both of whom were 15, were arrested and charged as adults with second-degree attempted murder after police said they doused Brewer, then 15, with rubbing alcohol at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex and lit him on fire.</p><p> Prosecutors said the attack was not premeditated. Brewer, now 17, disagreed.</p><p> "They knew exactly what they were doing," he said.</p><p> Brewer had burns over more than 60 percent of his body and spent months in rehabilitation.</p><p> Prosecutors said the motive behind the attack was that Brewer owed Bent $40.</p><p> On Wednesday, a judge sentenced Mendez to 11 years in prison followed by one year of community control and 18 years of probation.</p><p> Jarvis also pleaded no contest Wednesday. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, one year of community control and 21 years of probation.</p><p> Brewer said just seeing the teens accused of attacking him made him sick to his stomach.</p><p> “I think they should get longer, but it’s all right. I know they’re going to mess up anyway,” Brewer said.</p><p> “It is a very long journey, and it’s nice to be able to see the light at the end of our tunnel, and our family’s really going to start to be able to heal,” Brewer’s mother, Valerie Brewer, said. “Having to come back time and time again, you have to reopen all these wounds, and the nightmares come back and the feelings come back, and it’s really difficult. We’re looking forward to closure so we can finally heal as a family.”</p><p> Bent's trial is scheduled to begin on March 12, 2012.</p><p> "Mr. Bent has his right to have his day in court and he is demanding to have it," said prosecutor Maria Schneider.</p><p> "I'm not looking forward to the actual trial, the feelings that we're going to have to feel as a family, but we are strong. We are here for each other, and we're going to see Michael through it and when it's all over and done, we can finaly heal," Valerie Brewer said.</p>
Published: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:45:28 GMT
See this week's beautiful furry friends waiting at the Humane Society of Broward County to find a caring home.pet, dog, cat, Humane Society, Broward County, local 10, WPLG
Published: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:31:50 GMT
After seeing some of these fine citizens showcase their "skills," let's hope the South never rises again.
Published: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:38:32 GMT
Hundreds are dead following a massive prison fire in Honduras. Here are the 12 deadliest fires and explosions in U.S. history.
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:18:48 GMT
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