It’s Wednesday, November 17th – and NBC 6 has the top stories for your day.
No. 1 - Police are investigating after a woman was attacked by a stranger in her own home in Miami Beach.
The incident happened Monday evening, according to Miami Beach Police. The victim told officers she heard a knock at her front door. When she opened it, a man pushed his way into her home and forcefully tried to kiss her and take off her shirt. The case report says the woman screamed and was able to break free and grab a kitchen knife — ultimately convincing him to leave. The victim also told police about four or five months ago, she had seen someone staring at her through her window on two occasions. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Beach Police or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
No. 2 - His escape from the Broward County courthouse made him infamous — and this week, Dayonte Resiles faces the death penalty in the murder case of a woman over seven years ago.
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Resiles made headlines in 2016 for bolting past a bailiff during a pretrial hearing in a Broward County courtroom — slipping out of his handcuffs and jumpsuit — and then escaping down the stairwell out the door. Resiles was found less than a week later hiding out in a hotel in Palm Beach. Eight people were charged with helping him escape. Before he made his daring dash, he was charged in the murder of Jill Halliburton Su, who was found stabbed and bound in the bathtub of her Davie home in 2014. A judge has allowed prosecutors to use evidence of his courtroom escape in this trial to try and prove consciousness of guilt.
No. 3 - A Coconut Creek man has vanished after going fishing in the lake behind his home, and now his wife is holding out hope that he'll be found.
Dan Potter did what he’s done hundreds of times, but this time, he didn't come back. “My husband lives for fishing, he’s out there every night, keeps him nice and calm, he catches bass, takes some pictures, and throws ‘em back,” said Justine Potter. Something unfathomable happened on the water Saturday night. While a non-profit group called Guardians for the Missing searched the lake Tuesday afternoon with sonar equipment, precious little has been found of Potter or his boat. Click here for the pleas from family members in a report from NBC 6’s Ari Odzer.
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No. 4 - Two commissioners were elected Tuesday in Miami Beach, as well as city council members in Hialeah and a mayor in Sunny Isles Beach in runoff elections.
In Miami Beach, former congressional candidate Kristen Rosen Gonzalez won the seat for Group 1 over veteran and small business owner Raquel Pacheco with 54.8% of the votes. In Group 3, Alex Fernandez, a member of Miami Beach's Planning Board, beat Stephen Cohen with 59.2% of the votes. In Hialeah, Bryan Calvo claimed victory over Angelica Pacheco for the council seat for Group 6. Luis Rodriguez was elected over Maylin Villalonga for Group 7. In Sunny Isles Beach, Dana Goldman was elected mayor, beating Larisa Svechin by 31 votes.
No. 5 - They are showing up like never before. Guns at South Florida airports are being brought by passengers now in record numbers, officials said.
The disturbing number of weapons the Transportation Security Administration is finding at checkpoints comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is dealing with an increase in unruly passengers and just before the busiest travel time of the year. That’s a potentially dangerous mix the security experts want to avoid. The TSA exclusively shared images with NBC 6 showing guns found at checkpoints — some of them loaded and heading through the checkpoints at MIA, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Palm Beach International airports. Click here for the report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - The death penalty is the ultimate punishment, reserved for the most heinous and cruel of crimes.
But at what price? The exact taxpayer costs of investigating, prosecuting, defending, trying, appealing and carrying out a death sentence in Florida is impossible to determine. Police, state attorneys and public defenders offices, for example, don’t separately track the time their employees, attorneys and staff spend on such cases above and beyond what they might on a case where death is not sought as a punishment. But the NBC 6 Investigators can reveal how much the death penalty costs taxpayers to defend some of the most complex cases, those where conflicts prevent tax-funded defenders from being involved: $41 million over nearly 45 months, about $920,000 a month. Click here for the story in a report from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.
