It’s Tuesday, March 30th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Exclusive video shows officers taking a man into custody and a large Miami-Dade police presence Monday night in Overtown in connected to the abduction, sexual assault and shooting of a 12-year-old boy over the weekend.
Police arrested 43-year-old Aliex Santiesteban and charged him with several counts, including sexual battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and attempted murder. He was booked into the Miami-Dade jail early Tuesday morning. The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. Saturday as the boy was walking in the area of Northwest 43rd Terrace and 30th Avenue when he was approached by a man in a black, 4-door sedan, Miami-Dade Police officials said.
No. 2 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he would issue an executive order forbidding local governments and businesses from requiring so-called “vaccine passports” to show proof that customers have been inoculated against the coronavirus.
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He made the announcement on a day when more Floridians would become eligible for vaccination and during a ceremony he convened at the state Capitol to sign into law a bill approved by the Legislature on Friday that would bar COVID-related lawsuits against businesses that have made good-faith efforts to comply with guidelines meant to stop the spread of the virus. While the governor has previously spoken out against “vaccine passports,” he said he would take the additional step of forbidding businesses from refusing to serve people who can't prove they have been vaccinated.
No. 3 - A teen surrendered Monday to face DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges in a high-speed New Year's Day crash in Miami-Dade that left four people dead and two of his friends severely injured, authorities said.
The 16-year-old turned himself in to the Florida Highway Patrol in Miami to face four counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury. According to an arrest report, the teen was behind the wheel of a Chevy Tahoe when he crashed into a Hyundai Elantra at the intersection of West Flagler Street and Northwest 79th Avenue just before 4 a.m. on Jan. 1.
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No. 4 - A man who was among onlookers shouting at a Minneapolis police officer to get off George Floyd last May was to continue testifying Tuesday, a day after he described seeing Floyd struggle for air and his eyes rolling back into his head, saying he saw Floyd “slowly fade away ... like a fish in a bag.”
Donald Williams, a former wrestler who said he was trained in mixed martial arts including chokeholds, testified Monday that he thought Derek Chauvin used a shimmying motion several times to increase the pressure on Floyd. He said he yelled to the officer that he was cutting off Floyd’s blood supply. Prosecutors led off their case by playing part of the bystander video that captured Floyd's arrest on May 25. Chauvin and three other officers were fired soon after the video touched off outrage and protest, sometimes violent, that spread from Minneapolis around the world.
No. 5 - After NBC 6 Investigators reported details of the salary and the hiring process for incoming police chief Art Acevedo, the city of Miami Commission will debate whether to play a larger role in the hiring or firing of the next police or fire chief.
City Commissioner Manolo Reyes wants more input making crucial public safety hires after the speedy surprise pick of the incoming chief. NBC 6 learned Acevedo did not officially apply for the position and was chosen over more than 50 applicants and eight finalists, five of whom were internal candidates, who went through a public selection process. Click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan.
No. 6 - When the pandemic struck last March, IRS employees, like many individuals around the nation, were also sent home, and the large workforce was not readily able to process returns remotely.
1040s soon piled up, creating a backlog that delayed the processing of millions of tax returns. The IRS announced recently that it is opening mail within normal timeframes and has made significant progress in processing last year’s returns, but a mountain of paperwork still lies ahead. But with the clock ticking toward this year’s extended May 17 deadline, taxpayers want to know whether they can file 2020 returns if their 2019 returns have yet to be processed. To hear the answer, click here for the story from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
