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6 to Know: Tenants Concerned About Crime in Luxury Fort Lauderdale Apartment Building

It’s Friday, September 16th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day

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It’s Friday, September 16th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

No. 1 - The parents of a 19-year-old woman who was one of five young people killed in a wrong-way crash on the Palmetto Expressway last month is suing the man who police said is responsible.

The family of Briana Pacalagua is asking for a trial by jury and seeking more than $30,000 in damages against 30-year-old Maiky Simeon, according to the civil lawsuit. The crash happened in the early morning hours of Aug. 20 on the Palmetto Expressway near Northwest 57th Avenue. Five people, including Pacalagua, Daniela Marcano, Giancarlos Arias, Valeria Pena, and Valeria Caceres — all in their late teens, were killed. They were driving back from Arias' going-away party that night when Simeon, traveling east in the westbound lanes, hit them head-on, authorities said. Florida Highway Patrol officials said Simeon’s blood alcohol level was .15, almost double Florida's legal limit.

No. 2 - A group of suspects fled on foot after a high-speed police chase of a stolen car in South Florida Thursday.

Florida Highway Patrol officials said the chase began in Miami-Dade when Miami-Dade Police spotted a white Honda sedan on the Florida's Turnpike near Bird Road. The Honda, which had been reported stolen out of Palm Beach County and had been used in other property crimes, fled from police, officials said. Footage showed the sedan speeding and weaving in and out of traffic as it was being pursued by FHP troopers on the Turnpike northbound into Broward County. At one point, the car slowed down and at least three suspects were seen fleeing on foot near an apartment complex in Lauderhill. The driver, whose identity wasn't released, was in the process of being booked into jail. Officials said the two passengers were still at large.

No. 3 - Some tenants in a luxury apartment building in Fort Lauderdale are fed up.

They say crime is happening almost every day and that management isn’t enough to keep them safe. “I was missing a couple of items. I went and saw the Xbox gone, then I went straight to my jewelry, which was all gone," said Parker Newell. Newell says he had just moved into the Motif luxury apartments in April and he already wants to move out. He says he came home from the gym Wednesday afternoon to find about $15,000 in valuables gone. NBC 6 obtained a list of 911 calls made to the Fort Lauderdale building. Police responded there at least 127 times this year alone.

No. 4 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending his actions after sending two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, as Democrats are denouncing the action.

At a news conference Thursday, DeSantis reiterated that the state was sending the immigrants to a "sanctuary" destination. "We are not a sanctuary state and it's better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction, and yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures," DeSantis said. There were reportedly about 50 migrants in all, most of them from Venezuela, who arrived on the Massachusetts island Wednesday. DeSantis and other Republican governors have been drawing attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies.

No. 5 - Josue Camuse says he's lucky to be alive. The 12-year-old is at home recovering after he and a friend were shot while waiting for the school bus in the Pinewood area of NW Miami-Dade on Sept. 8.

“I saw the guy, but I didn't really think about it," said Camuse. "Then he tried to go for my phone, and I said no, and then he went for my friend's phone since my friend had an iPhone." Camuse and the other 12-year-old victim didn’t hand over their phones, and that’s when he says things took a violent turn. Camuse was shot in the hand and leg. He still has a bullet lodged in his thigh. He also said his friend, the other 12-year-old victim, was shot in both legs but is already home and recovering. Police made an arrest and say the 16-year-old shooter is facing several charges including attempted felony murder.

No. 6 - It’s been years since NBC 6 Responds first told you about Mark Block, the owner of a custom window treatment company in South Florida. 

In 2019, three homeowners accused him of taking deposits to install custom window treatments and not doing the work.  In 2021, two additional homeowners called NBC 6 Responds with similar allegations, including Robert Liguori.   “How many more people need to be victimized before they see this man for what he is,” Liguori told NBC 6.   The contractor was arrested in connection to Liguori’s case but he says that didn’t stop Block. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.

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