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6 to Know: South Florida Mother Says She Lost Nearly $15k in Rental Scam

It’s Wednesday, March 30th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day

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It’s Wednesday, March 30th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

No. 1 - Crews worked on a brush fire that was burning near homes and businesses Tuesday in southwest Miami-Dade.

Chopper 6 was above the scene of abundant smoke and flames around SW 137th Avenue and 8th Street, west of Florida International University. Officials said 110 acres have been burned so far. It's unclear what sparked the fire. It does not appear to be a threat to homes or other structures just yet. No road closures have been reported. Wednesday morning, officials said the fire is contained, but is still active. More crews are expected at the scene to fight the fire.

No. 2 - A dog poop stain helped police link a suspect to a violent armed robbery in Miami, authorities said.

William Carroll, 62, made a mess of things when he allegedly tried to rob a woman at knifepoint while she was returning from walking her dog Monday night, according to an arrest report. The report said the woman's dog had stopped in a stairway to poop at her residence near the 2900 block of Northeast 7th Avenue. As she picked up the poop, Carroll approached her from behind and pushed her against a wall, then pulled out a knife and started to strangle her, the report said. Carroll fled the scene, but officers who responded spotted him nearby a short time later and detained him, the report said. When Carroll was interviewed by a detective, he denied being involved in the robbery, but the detective noticed a brownish stain on his shirt that matched the dog poop from the scene, the report said.

No. 3 - A South Florida mother says she’s now forced to work seven days a week to earn money for a new home.

Sonia Urrutia, a mother of five, thought she had found that home on West 62nd Street in Hialeah via Craigslist but later found out that wasn’t the case. Urrutia says she wired her savings of about $14,700 to the person who listed the home for rent. She says the payment was supposed to cover the upfront move-in costs. That’s when she says her family members went to the home to investigate themselves. NBC 6 spoke to a man who identified himself as the owner of the home. He said he’d never listed the property for rent online and says whoever was behind the scheme had stolen his identity. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Ryan Nelson.

No. 4 - Florida is joining 20 other states in taking legal action against the federal mask mandate for travelers on planes and public transportation, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday.

The mask mandate was scheduled to expire March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration said earlier this month that it will extend the requirement through April 18. Speaking at a news conference in Tallahassee Tuesday, DeSantis said it's time to end the requirement. TSA officials said the extra month will give the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to develop new, more targeted policies that will consider the number of cases of COVID-19 nationally and in local communities, and the risk of new variants.

No. 5 - Miami Beach isn't planning to have a curfew this coming weekend after rowdy spring break crowds and violence led officials to impose one this past weekend.

Mayor Dan Gelber made the announcement during a virtual conference call Tuesday morning with Miami Beach's Chamber of Commerce. Miami Beach's midnight curfew was instituted after Gelber and City Manager Alina Hudak declared a state of emergency following shootings that injured five people on South Beach last week. Thousands of college students and other young people gather annually in Miami Beach for spring break, and this was the second year in a row that officials have declared a state of emergency in the famed partying spot.

No. 6 - The pandemic has made tax filing season complicated enough, but a bad actor who uses your information to file your taxes before you do could make it even worse.

There are different ways to find out if you are a victim of tax ID theft. The IRS could send you a letter about a suspicious tax return or a notice about changes to your online account. The most common way people find out is when they try to e-file their taxes and their tax return is rejected. Mark Kapczynski works with the company OneRep. The company helps people remove their personal information from the web. He said fraudsters looking to file your taxes need more than just your name and social security number. Click here for more tips in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.

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