Crime Scene

It's cleaner than crawling through sewage

Hat tip to Neighbors Editor Carolyn Guniss for this little gem that will appear in Thursday's Northeast section:

A thief stole four Miami-Dade County Corrections Department uniforms and other clothes after breaking a window on a 2007 Nissan in the 14800 block of Northeast Seventh Court between 12:30 and 4 a.m. June 25. The stolen items were valued at $500. Damage was
estimated at $200.

Anybody else think an inmate might be receiving an extra-heavy package in the next week or so?

Tired of dry, callused feet?

If so, the PedEgg -- a device that buffs and files away warts and other foot imperfections -- might be for you.

But first, better check with Miami Beach-based models Kelly Parks-Corso and Jonathan Corso, who appeared in a cheesier-than-Easy Mac commercial for the foot-care gadget.

Apparently, they were none too pleased with the way their footsies came off on screen in an ad that has been broadcast all over the world.

And so, they've filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit court. The Smoking Gun has the goods.

Named as defendants: PB and J Partners, a production company that made the commercial, and International Edge, which owns PedEgg.

The suit alleges that last July, PB and J sent out feelers for "hand and foot" models for a two-day shoot.

The job -- which paid $300 per model for the day's work -- was supposed to be for an Internet-only infomercial. The models were told they would be filmed receiving a pedicure and manicure, with only hands and feet shown, according to the suit.

When they got to the shoot, the couple quickly learned the plan had changed.

They were told that their feet were to be doctored with "horror" make-up for a dramatic before and after shot.

Parks-Corso and her husband were suprised, but decided to go ahead with the shoot.

That's a decision they would come to regret.

Soon thereafter, they saw themselves on TV -- not part of the original agreement -- in a shoddy, low-grade ad.

It even appeared at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Check out the ad to see the plaintiffs for yourself.

Parks-Corso is the redhead in the ad's first shot and her hubby is the guy on the couch.

Our pumping party past

Today's story about a Miami-Dade man accused of injecting people with silicone at underground, off-the-record parties brought up memories of South Florida's infamous pumping party death.

Vera Johnson, an office secretary from Carol City, died in March 2001 after attending a pumping party at a Miramar apartment, where she and others paid several hundred dollars each to have industrial-grade silicone injected into their breasts and butts. The silicone got into her bloodstream and caused her death, experts testified at trial.

Two men -- Mark Hawkins and Donnie "Viva" Hendrix -- were charged with Johnson's murder. The couple (Hendrix was living as Hawkins' wife) became well known for their South Florida pumping parties.

Their 2003 trial was colorful, with several transgender and transvestite witnesses and a prosecutor who at one point told jurors such people could not be trusted.

Hawkins was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison, then his conviction was reversed and he was granted a new trial. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was released from prison in 2006. Hendrix was acquitted of murder charges but served a five-year sentence (in a prison for male inmates) for practicing medicine without a license.   

Animal cops turning Japanese

This seems like a weird mix between Reno 911! and one of those badly dubbed martial arts movies.

Behold, Miami-Dade Animal Police on the prowl for strays with a Japanese film crew:

Desperate times ... desperate measures

As gas prices continue to go up and up, people are doing just about anything to find cheaper alternatives.

Here's one the government doesn't recommend: Stealing gas by using a universal key to unlock the pumps.

It's what this guy, above left, is suspected of doing at a Citgo station at Southwest Eighth Street and 22nd Avenue in Miami. He apparently let his buddies in on the scheme, too: Police say a total of five cars pulled up one after another, making off with a total of 100 gallons.

It seems similar to a 2006 gas-swiping scam in Baltimore, where gas stations reported a loss of about 4,000 gallons costing almost $12,000. That time, the thieves used a master key to reprogram the pumps so the store attendant didn't realize what was happening.   

Peeping Tom makes wrong call

The latest from the photographic pervert file: Oscar Espinosa, who cops say hid a camera in his rolling suitcase and filmed up the skirt of a woman at Aventura Mall last week.

Espinosa, 49, has been charged with video voyeurism and battery, public records show.

According to WSVN-7, Virginia Malpica was waiting at an AT&T kiosk when Espinosa approached dragging a black suitcase.

He then walked away, leaving it there. She glanced down and noticed an open zipper, with a camera lens pointed up.

She called for the cops, and police took him away.

For a story we brought you about advancements in spy technology, follow this link.

O.J.'s world: Bull's eyes and dollar signs

Thanks to reader and alert barfly Eric from Hollywood for alerting us to an impromptu radio interview O.J. Simpson gave Saturday night at the Kendall Ale House (left).

The Juice raps for a few minutes with 640 AM host Andy Slater about Big Brown's Triple Crown loss ("I'm a big racing fan," Simpson says, adding, "Of all the athletes, horses are the most delicate.") and the death of sportscaster Jim McKay ("He was always a gentleman.").

Then Slater tried to go from fluffy to edgy. I guess he remembered that Simpson, besides being a Hall of Fame athlete, is also out of jail on bail pending an armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas next fall that could send him to prison for life if he's convicted.

"A lot of people are going to say, 'Why are you talking to O.J. about sports and horses and broadcasters?' " Slater said. "So, you're obviously going through a lot right now. What's up with all that?"

O.J., who has an uncanny ability to stay on-message, portrayed himself as a victim.

"I've had to accept that I'm a target for a lot of people," Simpson said. "I feel like I've got a bull's eye on my chest and a dollar sign on my back."

He went on to talk about how proud he is of raising two "productive, proper" kids who are both now in college. "If you're going to judge me by what I've done in the past 10 years, look at my kids," Simpson said. 

Listen to the whole Simpson interview here. ("I think he was a little buzzed," Eric writes.)

Murder suspect goes berserk in court

A Miami-Dade murder suspect made the cable-news highlight reel today with an unprovoked outburst in bond court.

Mitchell Lee Simpson, 20, was denied bond after being charged in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old Homestead boy last month. Investigators say the teen was robbed of his gold-chain necklace before being shot.

That's a picture of Simpson on the left, decking the defendant behind him in court. Mitchell punched the guy in the face and dragged him to the ground before officers pulled him away. The other man was not seriously injured, and the attack appeared to be unprovoked, according to WFOR-CBS 4, which captured it on video.   

Maybe Mitchell was less than excited at the prospect of going back to prison. He was just released in March from a one-year stint in the slammer for burglary.

Coming to MIA: Peep shows!

Some time this month, body-scanning machines that can peer through clothing will be installed at Miami International Airport, according to USA Today.

Civil libertarians are up in arms about the new security measures, but as any kid who leafed through the back of comic books knows, it's old technology.

TSA's next initiative: Getting fit with Charles Atlas!

Kimbo's SoBe slice

Much ink has been given to rising mixed-martial arts star Kimbo Slice (aka Kevin Ferguson), as well it should.

The 34-year-old homegrown athlete from the 305 played football at Miami Palmetto before finding a growing MMA fanbase with online fight videos. He made his TV debut last weekend in a nationally televised fight he won against James "The Colossus" Thompson (Kimbo made the dude's ear bleed).

The Smoking Gun today pulled up a mugshot (left) from Kimbo's 2002 arrest in Miami Beach. Cops charged him with a gun charge and an open-container violation. The weapons charge was dropped, and Kimbo attended an alcohol-education course after pleading no contest to the other citation.

The Miami Herald's Dan Le Batard reports it was Kimbo's only violent brush with the law.

A mug only a mother could love (UPDATED)

One of our favorite Monday time-passers here at Crime Scene is scrolling through the freshly posted mugshots The Smoking Gun compiles from all over the country.

This week's collection includes the requisite pretty girls, funny T-shirts and bad haircuts. And my personal favorite, the woman at the left who's flipping the bird.

The mugshots must be a popular feature, or else I'm guessing TSG wouldn't post them every week.

The Palm Beach Post now links the latest county jail mugshots prominently on its homepage. That recently got New Times blogger Bob Norman questioning whether this application of public records is "appropriate for a serious newspaper." 

An interesting debate. What do you think? Would you like to see the Herald post mugshots of every person who comes through the Miami-Dade and Broward jails?

**UPDATE: We do have a gallery of celebrity mugshots. Click here to see what everyone from muzak impresario Yanni to rock legend Jim Morrison to state Sen. Mandy Dawson looked like after their South Florida busts. 

That's hot

They say Drake's Bar is the hottest spot to party in Kendall.

Proof: At 2 a.m. Sunday, a woman dancing on the bar accidentally kicked a flaming drink onto an unsuspecting patron, sending him to the hospital with severe burns on his chest and arms.

Fire-rescue workers said the woman in her 20s was helping out with a liquor-and-fire display on the bar. She let the spirit take her, so to speak, and started dancing away.

She got some of the fiery concoction on her foot, so she instinctly tried to kick it off. She launched the flaming alcohol onto this poor barfly who had to be taken to burn unit.

I wonder how they'd handle this situation at Flaming Moe's. 

No crime in learning

Nothing to see here, folks.

Just a shout-out to the inquisitive and red-shirted sharks from Nautilus Middle School who visited the newsroom today.

Thanks for the questions, kids. Now, stay in school and make sure this is the last time you're mentioned on Crime Scene.

Mall shootings on the rise?

People used to view malls as safe places -- large public venues protected from the dangers of street crime.

I wonder if South Florida's recent mall shootings will make people reconsider that notion.

Today's Herald includes stories about an attempted murder-suicide at the Aventura Mall that left the shooter dead and a woman badly injured, and about a still-unsolved double murder at the Boca Raton Town Center.

The facts of the Aventura and Boca Raton cases seem different -- police believe the Aventura shooter knew his victim, but the Boca shootings appear to be more random -- but the terror of mall violence is present in both, just as it was at a recent Omaha mall shooting that left nine people dead.

After the Omaha shooting in December, CNN ran a piece about how violence crimes in malls are disrupting retail sales.

But what do shoppers think? Can we make malls safer? Should we? Weigh in with your comments.

Miami-Dade K-9 cops honored

Big ups to three Miami-Dade Police officers and a sergeant who have won a national Top Cops award for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Sgt. Eric Mendez and Officers Edwin Gonzalez, Brad Burke and Richard Hansen were working in the department's K-9 unit on Nov. 12 when they safely freed a woman and her grandchildren from a gunman who was holding them hostage. The kidnapper was arrested without incident.

The Miami-Dade officers were the only ones in Florida to win this year's award; officers from 10 other states also were recognized for their service. Here's a full list from the National Association of Police Organizations.

"It's a big honor for the department," said Det. Mario Rachid, a spokesman.

The four are scheduled to talk with reporters about the award and the November crime at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Thief breaks into house, leaves loot

This crook needs to go back to thief school:

An intruder pried open a back door of a house in the 10100 block of Northwest Sixth Avenue on April 16.

Left in the burglar's wake: $100 in damage to the door, along with a hammer and machete.

Taken: nothing.

Thanks to Jeff Kleinman, the Herald's copy chief, for this gem.

Late-night journey turns rocky

Rule No. 1 if you're taking out the company boat without permission: Avoid the rocks.

Apparently, a late-night thrill-seeker missed the memo.

The result: A 40-foot yacht that wrecked on a jetty -- and it was still stranded there 12 hours after the accident.

The Coast Guard and Sea Tow were called out to Government Cut about 2 a.m. Thursday, where six late-night yachters had missed a turn, and plowed into the rocks.

No one was injured -- except for the boat, according to Sea Tow Capt. Brian Hawthorne.

Hawthorne was sleeping when the radio he keeps by his bed sounded a distress call. He jumped into his boat, made the 10-minute trip south and found the stranded boaters.

Apparently the night voyage's ringleader worked for a North Miami company -- and hadn't asked his boss for permission to take a spin.

No one was charged in the accident, according to the Coast Guard. Sea Tow planned to have the boat removed by the end of the day.

Thanks to WSVN-7 for the picture.

Passover fire arson?

Police are now handling a fire at a Miami Beach synagogue as a possible arson.

An overnight blaze gutted the Chabad Shul and it appears someone ripped apart scrolls called torahs and prayer shawls called talises.

At the scene, we noticed a police crime-scene investigator examining a wrought-iron fence in the back of the synagogue. About a three-foot chunk was missing, but the broken pieces of fence were nearby. The CSI dusted them for fingerprints and also swabbed them with some sort of Q-tips for lab analysis.

Here's the story from our website, with video to be posted shortly, including interviews with Rabbi Zev Katz, Fire Chief Javier Otero and congregants. 

Lawbreaker Triathlon

Call this one Miami driver's version of a triathlon.

He sped. He ran. He swam.

All to get away from trooper - who clocked him going 122 m.p.h. in a 55 zone.

Maybe they were REALLY nice pants

I'm still scratching my head at this caper chronicled by Herald guerrilla photographer Tim Chapman.

Some dude shot another dude in Miami on Wednesday (which is an almost everyday occurrence), and then the victim's friends took his pants and ran away (not an everyday occurrence)!

Paramedics found the man bleeding in the street in his undies and a shirt. Police are trying to figure out why the guy's buddies ran off with his pantalones.

Off to court

I'm covering Miami-Dade courts this week and next while our beat reporter, Susannah Nesmith, fills in on the Metro editing desk.

Expect light blogging from me for the next several days, but I'm sure my fearless colleagues Adam and Jen will keep you saturated with crime news.

Meanwhile, here are a few South Florida court-related blogs to check out in my absence: JAABlog and the Justice Building Blog.

O.J. over the years

I personally don't care for the O.J. Simpson stories nowadays that mention how he's "looking much heavier than in his playing days" or "paunchier and slower-moving." Happens to most everyone, right? It's not the point of the stories, so why point it out? Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

But, without passing any judgment, check out these O.J. mugshots from over the years, posted in The Smoking Gun's substantial mugshot collection:

First, after his June 1994 arrest in Los Angeles. O.J. was charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. A jury acquitted him in October 1995.

Second, after his September 2007 arrest in Las Vegas. O.J. and several other men were charged with armed robbery and other felonies after taking collectibles from two sports-memorabilia collectors. Their trial is set to begin in April (see last graf).

Third, in January 2008 before a bail-revocation hearing in Las Vegas. A judge increased O.J.'s bond because of a profanity-laced message on his bondsman's voicemail that violated a court order.

In the Vegas case, a judge today denied a request from defense attorneys to postpone the trial. It begins April 7.

Owner defends her store, but shot in the process

   Two robbers walked into her store Tuesday evening, but the store owner wasn't about to
let them leave with her cash.

   She pulled her gun from the register.

   Unfortunately, one of the robbers fired first. 

   The owner of the store, at 10192 NW Seventh Ave., was grazed in the shoulder. Not a life-threatening injury, Miami-Dade police say.

   The robbers fled -- without any of the intended loot.