It’s Tuesday, August 30th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Police are searching for a 6-year-old boy with autism who was last seen Saturday in Miami-Dade.
Jorge "Jo Jo" Morales was picked up at 9:15 a.m. from his mother's residence in the 23700 block of SW 184th Avenue by his father and his paternal grandmother, Miami-Dade Police said Monday. The child never returned home, violating court orders, police said. Yanet Concepcion is wishing police can do more to help find her son. "Please put an Amber Alert," she said. "I know they’re working hard and doing what they can, and I know they have to follow protocols and procedures ... but please, please put an Amber Alert." Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Police at 305-715-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
No. 2 - The owner of a Miami jewelry store is offering a reward for information on a trio who was caught on surveillance stealing from the business.
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The burglary happened on Aug. 22 at Ashley Jewelry on NE 55th Street. "I'm just trying to find out the truth about this," said the owner, Jorge Fernandez. Fernandez believes the three men came prepared with tools and a plan. Surveillance footage showed the men first tried to open the safe from the front, but they ultimately managed to break it open through the side. Fernandez said they took $300,000 worth of items, including seven watches, Cuban link necklaces and diamonds.
No. 3 - Fourteen of a possible 80 defense witnesses have testified, so far, that the Parkland school shooter was a troubled child since before he was born to an alcohol and drug-addicted mother.
In the fifth day of testimony on Monday, a retired special education teacher with Broward County Public Schools for 20 years characterized a 10-year-old Nikolas Cruz as a loner in the third grade. “Nikolas was very quiet, he was aloof, he didn’t blend in well with the other students,” Lynne Rodriguez testified. “[He was] anxious, very anxious.” It was difficult to tell what mood he was in on any given day. Prosecutor Jeff Marcus countered Cruz was not any more intellectually or emotionally disabled than other students and that his test scores were in the average range.
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No. 4 - The girlfriend of the infamous rapper formerly named Tekashi69 was arrested Monday after police said she punched him at a Miami restaurant.
Rachel Wattley, 25, was charged with one county of misdemeanor battery for the incident. According to a police report, Wattley and the rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, were escorted out of Kiki on the River in the 400 block of Northwest N. River Drive when an officer spotted them get into an argument. Hernandez told officers his girlfriend had punched him prior to leaving the restaurant. Officers spotted a minor injury on his left cheek, according to the report. The couple have been together three years and have one child together. Wattley is known on social media with over 1.7 million followers on Instagram where the aspiring rapper is known as "Jade."
No. 5 - The public will get its first glimpse of the new-look Broward County School Board on Tuesday morning, with four new members appointed by the governor. It was dramatic when Gov. Ron DeSantis sacked four sitting school board members Friday afternoon, and the shockwaves are still reverberating.
Kevin Tynan, who served as a pinch-hit member of the School Board 11 years ago when a board member was arrested, is back for another round. He is one of the four men appointed by the governor and says security will be his top focus. After the statewide grand jury report recommended that the governor suspend four board members, DeSantis replaced them with four men. School boards are non-partisan, but Laurie Rich-Levinson, Patricia Good, Donna Korn and Anne Murray are all Democrats. Their replacements are each Republicans. Board member Lori Alhadeff is giving her new colleagues the benefit of the doubt. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Ari Odzer.
No. 6 - Residents in a Southwest Ranches neighborhood are on high alert after a car burglary spree.
A resident who didn't want to be identified said his area has been victimized by at least three recent car break-ins. “Three nights ago, my neighbor calls me saying that on his camera he had seen three guys in painter's outfits or ninja outfits jumping the back fence to my house into the property," the man said. "I came outside and flashed a light towards them, and I guess it scared them away and they continued going." The resident said someone had cut the chain to their gate. Security footage also showed a car rolling right up to the driveway recently before the driver noticed the cameras and left. The investigation comes as detectives in Pembroke Pines are also looking into several car break-ins.
