It’s Tuesday, June 21st - and NBC 6 has the top stories of the day.
No. 1 - A Miami-Dade Police officer has been placed on desk duty and an investigation is underway after he was recorded telling a Black man "this is how you guys get killed out here" during a traffic stop.
The traffic stop happened last Wednesday in North Miami Beach and video of the encounter is going viral, with some saying the officer was threatening the man's life and others saying maybe the officer was talking about how not wearing a seatbelt can kill you. The driver, Gerardson Nicolas, said the interaction took place while he was driving to work. He admitted he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt when he was stopped on Northeast 159th Street near 18th Avenue. "Give me your driver’s license, registration and insurance. If not you will not be going to work today. Simple thing man. This is how you guys get killed out here man," the officer tells him. Nicolas said he started recording because he was scared for his life. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Heather Walker.
No. 2 - Authorities are investigating after a man drowned in a Davie lake after he went into the water to rescue his pet parrot on Sunday, police said.
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Davie Police officials said the man's parrot fell in the water in the 2700 block of Southwest 79th Avenue. The man, identified as 40-year-old Dimitrios Alexiou, went into the lake but was not seen getting out of the water. Neighbors said they saw the entire incident unfold. "He started to take his flip flops off and went into the lake, walked into the lake, and I yelled at him 'Don’t do it! Don’t do it!'" one neighbor said. "He started gasping for air very heavily, and when I saw that, that’s when I knew he was in trouble." Both neighbors said Alexiou's dog jumped in after him to try and save his owner. Police and fire rescue responded to the scene, and Davie Fire Rescue divers located Alexiou and pronounced him dead, officials said.
No. 3 - Despite FDA and CDC approval for children as young as six months old to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Florida families may have to wait a few more days to get an appointment for their young children.
“It is disheartening when it affects you directly," said Morgan Shane, a mother of two in Coral Gables. "We keep getting close and now it’s available and the thought we have to get up and travel to safely go about our summer is frustrating." Shane can’t wait to get her 3-year-old son Eli protected with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine now that he’s eligible. But a failure to pre-order either of the vaccines by the state of Florida early last week has her hope on hold. Morgan made several calls to get an appointment for her son at Miami-Dade pharmacies and received uncertain answers. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Marissa Bagg.
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No. 4 - The deadly building collapse of Champlain Towers South forced many condo owners to start asking questions. The disaster also highlighted a need for change.
Starting in 2025, state law will require condo boards to set money aside to cover future major repairs. To figure out how much money to set aside, condo boards are being asked to hire companies to do what is called a reserve study, which analyzes the association's finances and potential repair costs. But industry insiders tell NBC 6 Responds this requirement could turn into a heavy lift for condo boards and condo owners. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
No. 5 - Officer Adrian Gonzalez has seen it all. Back in 2013, Gonzalez was a member of the Hialeah Swat team that saved two hostages from a gunman who killed six others.
But he said not even that could have prepared him for the assignment he was given on June 24, when the Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside. Gonzalez was told he would be the initial intake person for survivors and family members looking for loved ones. He said he saw his wife and kids in the dozens of families he met. He recalled seeing a young boy wearing the same Buzz Lightyear pajamas his son has. He said families brought photos, unit numbers, and shared stories of the last time they saw their loved ones. Another moment that moved him: meeting a firefighter looking for his own daughter. Click here for his emotional words in a report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - Six families in South Florida had something special to share this Father's Day: the birth of their newborn twins.
Baptist Health's Boca Raton Regional Hospital welcomed six sets of twins leading up to Sunday's holiday. "It's been quite a special week," nurse Sharon N. said. "The timing of whole thing, I trust was from above," said Cory Spencer, one of the new dads. "But it's going to be a special Father's Day certainly." The babies were born to fathers that included a middle school teacher, appliance store owner and a fire marshal.
