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<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: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:20:06 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 23:33:52 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> Click here to watch the videos.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:12:37 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: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:50:08 GMT
<p> Customs officers often make drug busts, but what about hairdryer busts?</p><p> Customs and Border Protection announced on its website Wednesday that it seized thousands of hairdryers recently, including 3,614 at Port Miami.</p><p> Customs officials said the hairdryers were determined to constitute a “substantial product hazard” under U.S. law.</p><p> Officials said the hairdryers seized at Port Miami lacked proper shock protection for consumers. Lack of proper shock protection could lead to an electrocution if contact is made with a water source.</p><p> In all, 13,382 hairdryers were seized, worth $2,506,517 in stores.</p><p> “Ensuring the safety of imported merchandise is a top priority for CBP,” said Allen Gina, CBP’s assistant commissioner for international trade. “The concerted targeting efforts of CTAC and the vigilance of CBP officers at our ports of entry will help ensure that products like hair dryers are safe for consumers and that substandard product from overseas does not reach store shelves.”</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:51:15 GMT
<p> A caretaker is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a 75-year-old North Miami Beach woman.</p><p> North Miami Beach police said Olga Hidalgo-Gato, 46, of Hollywood, was hired to help a 75-year-old woman who lives on monthly Social Security payments with daily activities, such as grocery shopping, paying bills and filling prescriptions. </p><p> According to police, between October 2010 and July 2011, Hidalgo-Gato wrote herself checks from the woman's account and withdrew up to $500 per day from the woman's accounts. She stole a total of $35,000, police said. </p><p> The woman asked her son for help when some of her checks bounced and she began to suspect Hidalgo-Gato was stealing from her, North Miami Beach police said. The woman's son noticed on his mother's bank records that some of the withdrawals were taken at casinos, which his mother did not visit, investigators said.</p><p> The son called police. When a detective confronted Hidalgo-Gato, she denied taking any money and said any withdrawals she took were for legitimate reasons, North Miami Beach police said.</p><p> Police said Hidalgo-Gato was seen on surveillance video at various locations, withdrawing the woman's money without the woman present. </p><p> The stolen money came from the woman's life savings, her monthly Social Security payments and funds from a reverse mortgage, investigators said. The woman could now lose her home.</p><p> Hidalgo-Gato was arrested Thursday on charges of grand theft on a victim over age 65 and exploitation of the elderly, both second-degree felonies.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:49:20 GMT
<p> Police are looking for the driver who hit two cyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway early Wednesday morning. </p><p> Police said two men were riding their bikes east over the bridge at about 6 a.m. when a car hit both men. The driver fled the scene and left the men injured on the road, police said. </p><p> Cyclist Enda Welsh fractured his ankle in the accident, but his friend, Aaron Cohen, had more serious injuries. </p><p> Miami police detectives snapped photos of a blood-stained bike helmet and the crumpled front tire of Cohen's bike.</p><p> Cohen is in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital with severe head trauma. Cohen's wife said he underwent surgery Wednesday morning.</p><p> "This guy, he's out there and he knows what he did,” Welsh said. “He didn’t even stop to see. He didn't care." </p><p> Cohen's wife said he is an avid cyclist. He has two children, 3-year-old Lilly and 1-year-old Aiden.</p><p> Police believe the suspect was driving a 2009-2011 silver Honda Civic. It is missing is right rearview mirror. Investigators also believe the car may have some hood damage. </p><p> If you see this car or if you have any information about this crash, you are asked to contact Miami police immediately.</p><p> This isn't the first time a bicyclist has been hit by a car on the Rickenbacker. Two years ago, prosecutors said Carlos Bertonatti was driving under the influence when he hit and killed cyclist Christopher Lacanne.</p><p> The incident prompted community outrage and a petition to county commissioners asking to reduce the speed limit from 45 to 35 mph.</p><p> Avid cyclist Bart Sherwood said that didn't go anywhere, and neither did the plans to increase police patrols.</p><p> Sherwood said he would like to see more digital signs reminding drivers of the speed limit.</p><p> Police said they do enforce the speed limit.</p><p> Click here for information on the county's plan to ensure pedestrian and bicyclist safety.</p>
Published: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:34:00 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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