Latest news with #SouthFloridaSunSentinel
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Well-known Fort Lauderdale detective fired after investigation
A well-known Fort Lauderdale Police detective was fired after an investigation revealed that he used police databases to search his ex-girlfriend and her family and made conflicting statements about a tracker found on the woman's car. As a recruiting officer for the department, Henry Lockwood III often served as the face of Fort Lauderdale Police. He helped lead efforts to advertise the department to Spring Breakers, as the South Florida Sun Sentinel previously reported, mentored youths and spoke about the force on national television. 'We want to make sure we increase in community engagement. The more we engage with them, the less problems we know we have,' Lockwood told the Sun Sentinel during the Spring Break initiative. According to a Fort Lauderdale Police internal affairs report obtained by the Sun Sentinel, Lockwood has been terminated from his job after his ex-girlfriend raised concerns with the Coconut Creek Police Department about a tracker on her car. During an August 2024 interview with an officer in Coconut Creek, the ex-girlfriend said she and Lockwood had parted ways in April that year. She went to the police, she said, 'as she was 'scared' and wanted to 'have it documented in case anything was to escalate from this situation,'' according to the report. Two days after the interview, a Coconut Creek Police investigator followed up at a local Hyundai dealership where the woman had asked for help in finding a tracker. She did so, she told police, because 'on two occasions she noticed that her ex-boyfriend showed up to different locations without her telling him where she was. She found that suspicious,' the Fort Lauderdale Police internal affairs report says. When the woman returned to the dealership to retrieve her car, the GPS tracking device was missing, prompting an employee to review the dealership's video. It was then, according to the internal affairs report, that the employee and the ex-girlfriend 'observed an unknown male walk into the service bay' toward the area where the car was located. The man was then observed leaving the service bay 'carrying the GPS tracking device in his hands.' The woman told employees she knew the man on the video. The dealership's video cameras showed it was Lockwood who walked in wearing plain clothes to retrieve the device. He was on duty at the time, the report says. Interviewed later by Fort Lauderdale Police investigators, Lockwood initially denied placing the tracker on the car but later admitted to it when speaking to a supervisor. Then he denied it again, saying someone else had placed it there. Asked by Fort Lauderdale investigators why he had removed his uniform shirt while at the dealership, he replied: 'Because at that time I was not in any official capacity.' Lockwood also used police databases at least 26 times between April and August of 2024 to conduct searches on his ex-girlfriend and people in her life, including her brother, friends and a former boyfriend, according to the report. The investigation found Lockwood violated multiple department policies, including conduct unbecoming an officer and misuse of law enforcement authority or position. Misuse of police databases for personal reasons can lead to criminal penalties, depending on how the information is used. On Aug. 29, the report says, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's office of internal affairs referred the case to the public corruption unit of the State Attorney's Office, which 'declined to review it.' Neither the former girlfriend nor the car dealership wanted Lockwood to be prosecuted, according to the report. 'Honestly, I just want this to go away,' the woman is quoted as telling a Coconut Creek officer. 'I don't want Henry to be in any type of trouble. I don't want him — his job to be on the line — his career. I just want us to go our separate ways. So, he continues his life. I continue my life and we just be done with it. No criminal charges, no consequences. I just wanted this to be documented. And that's pretty much it.' The dealership told police that it did not want to press any charges. On March 5, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Walter Schultz signed a 'disciplinary recommendation' of termination. The records show Lockwood has been represented by attorney Eugene Gibbons of Fort Lauderdale through the Fraternal Order of Police. A phone message left with Gibbons' office Monday evening was not returned. The police union did not respond to an emailed message seeking comment. This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Insurance costs edge higher for Florida homeowners and condo owners
The upward rise in costs for homeowner insurance in Florida resumed during the first quarter of 2025, with average premium costs edging higher after dipping slightly in late 2024, new data released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation shows. The average premium paid by owners of single-family homes in Florida increased by 0.3% — climbing from $3,646 to $3,658 — between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, according to a South Florida Sun Sentinel comparison of figures released in the office's quarterly Residential Market Share Report. Condo unit owners saw their costs increase by 0.8%, from $1,714 to $1,729 during the period, the data shows. Homeowner insurance costs fell by 0.7% in fourth quarter of 2024 Home insurance costs in Florida spiked in third quarter. Are more increases on the way? Condo association insurance costs doubled since 2022, new data shows Your insurance costs won't climb so high this year. All bets are off if we get a lot of hurricanes. Since the enactment of reforms in 2022 aimed at sharply reducing litigation costs for insurers, average premiums have increased 30.7% for homeowners and 28.8% for condo unit owners. The first-quarter hikes followed cost decreases of less than 1% for homeowner policies and 1.7% for condo unit policies during the fourth quarter of 2024. That was the only quarter with cost decreases since the release of the reports began in 2022. The office released the latest data without comment and Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky did not respond to an email from the Sun Sentinel. An office spokeswoman said she did not believe that Yaworsky would be able to address the increases prior to this news article's publication. Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations for the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute, attributed the increase to 'higher replacement costs due to inflationary impacts of construction materials and labor.' He also pointed out that the 'slight increase is far below most other hurricane-prone coastal states, which are experiencing double-digit premium increases.' The data showing the cost increases for Florida consumers followed the release of an analysis by insurance ratings firm AM Best noting improvements in the state's insurance market. In addition to achieving, in 2024, the market's first collective underwriting profit in eight years, the AM Best report cited the emergence of 13 new private-market insurers, stabilizing premiums and reinsurance costs, and a sharp reduction in policies held by state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's so-called insurer of last resort. The improvements were made possible, AM Best said, by tort reforms enacted in 2022 and 2023 by the Florida Legislature and governor to reduce runaway litigation costs that were driving losses within the industry. During debate in the Legislature over the reforms, insurance insiders predicted that costs for consumers, then rising sharply, would stabilize or even be reduced after litigation that was underway had a few years to work its way through the courts. Prior to the start of the 2025 legislative session, Yaworsky joined Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference touting the number of insurers that submitted requests for lower or unchanged rates. Critics, however, said the reforms have gone too far, adding to insurer profits while leaving policyholders with less leverage over claims disputes. A bill was backed by plaintiffs attorneys that would have reinstated requirements for insurers that lose claims disputes to pay plaintiffs' legal fees. It passed the House but was not advanced in the Senate. Insurance premiums increased for 41 of 61 carriers with 1,000 or more policies, according to the analysis. The Cincinnati Insurance Co. charged the largest premium increase — 45.7% — among the group of Florida-registered insurers. While its policy count decreased from 1,631 to 1,009, its average premium increased from $11,014 to $16,044. Average risk covered by the Fairfield, Ohio-based company is $2.8 million. Truck Insurance Exchange's 2,390 policyholders saw the second-largest increase, 16.1%, as premiums swelled from $2,059 to $2,390. Premium costs for 20 companies increased by less than 2% and customers of 17 companies saw their premiums decrease, on average, between 0.2% and 9.3% Companies with lower premiums included Florida-based Edison, Florida Peninsula, Security First, Monarch National, American Integrity, ASI Preferred, Safe Harbor, Orange and Safeport. Costs for Citizens customers declined by 1.9%, from $3,348 to $3,283. The Sun Sentinel's calculations excluded two companies from the fourth and first quarters and a third company from the first quarter. Fourth-quarter data reported by two of the companies contained obvious glitches that would have skewed results. The third company did not report its data in the fourth quarter but resumed reporting in the first quarter. Including that company's data in the analysis would have made the first-quarter increases appear artificially large. Condo associations saw relief for the third straight quarter as premiums fell by 5.3% following decreases of 2.5% and 3.0%. Condo association premiums had increased by an average 103% between June 2022 and June 2024 amid concerns about tightening inspection and maintenance requirements. Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Miami Herald
3 Broward detention deputies face aggravated battery charge in 2022 inmate booking
Three Broward Sheriff's deputies are facing charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm stemming from an alleged rough encounter with a woman they were booking into the jail in 2022, court records show. Deputy Denia Walker, 37; Deputy Cleopatra Johnnie, 47; and Sgt. Zakiyyah Polk, 44, were booked into the Broward Main Jail on Thursday, jail and court records show. The charge they each face is a second-degree felony. On Oct. 4, 2022, Walker, Johnnie and Polk were processing a 38-year-old woman at the Main Jail and took her to a search cell to change into the jail uniform, according to arrest warrants obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel through a public records request on Thursday evening. The deputies told the woman to remove all of her clothes, including her bra, the warrants said, but then began arguing about taking off the bra. Polk shoved the woman backward, and then all three deputies allegedly 'punched and kicked' her multiple times, according to the warrants. Walker sprayed the woman with pepper spray, and Polk shocked her with her Taser, the warrants say. Read more at
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Three Broward detention deputies face aggravated battery charge in 2022 inmate booking
Three Broward Sheriff's deputies are facing charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm stemming from an alleged rough encounter with a woman they were booking into the jail in 2022, court records show. Deputy Denia Walker, 37; Deputy Cleopatra Johnnie, 47; and Sgt. Zakiyyah Polk, 44, were booked into the Broward Main Jail on Thursday, jail and court records show. The charge they each face is a second-degree felony. On Oct. 4, 2022, Walker, Johnnie and Polk were processing a 38-year-old woman at the Main Jail and took her to a search cell to change into the jail uniform, according to arrest warrants obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel through a public records request on Thursday evening. The woman was being booked into the jail on a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge, Broward County court records show. The case was dropped in May 2023. The deputies told the woman to remove all of her clothes, including her bra, the warrants said, but then began arguing about taking off the bra. Polk shoved the woman backward, and then all three deputies allegedly 'punched and kicked' her multiple times, according to the warrants. Walker sprayed the woman with pepper spray, and Polk shocked her with her Taser, the warrants say. Cameras in the Main Jail recorded the incident, and the video was reviewed by the Broward State Attorney's Office investigator who authored the arrest warrants on Tuesday. The video showed that the woman was 'clearly dragged behind the yellow demarcation line, which identifies the 'blind spot' where an individual is able to change without being observed on the video,' the warrants say. BSO nursing staff treated the woman immediately afterward. She had significant bruising underneath her right eye and a bruised and swollen face, according to the warrants. At a hospital after she was released, the woman learned she had a skin infection where she had been shocked with the Taser. The warrants did not provide additional information. Some sections of the warrants obtained by the Sun Sentinel are redacted. Spokespersons for the Sheriff's Office did not respond to an email Thursday afternoon seeking information on the incident that led to the charges and the deputies' current employment status. Polk's attorney Eric Schwartzreich told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday afternoon that he has not yet seen video of the incident. Polk has worked for the Sheriff's Office for 17 years. 'Working as a detention deputy in jail is fraught with danger. There are heightened sensitivities involved,' Schwartzreich said. 'I've gotten to know my client very well. There's more to this story than what the charges say.' Michael Gottlieb, Johnnie's attorney, said, 'Situations happen when people are booked in jail.' 'Inmates are not always acting rationally, and they do not always respond to verbal and physical commands,' Gottlieb said. 'The fact that someone is physically hurt is not proof that a crime was committed.' Walker's attorney Jeremy Kroll said his client has worked as a detention deputy for a decade and 'we look forward to vigorously defending her in court.' All three deputies were later transferred to the Paul Rein Detention Facility and had been released as of Thursday evening. A judge signed orders that they be released from custody on $7,500 bonds. There have been multiple reviews internally by BSO and by the State Attorney's Office in recent years related to actions of deputies within the Broward County jails. In 2023, Broward jail deputy Ke'Shondra Davis was accused of a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a 2022 incident where she was relocating inmates and one made a comment to her, according to a statement from the Sheriff's Office at the time. The statement did not specify the nature of the comment. Davis then 'confronted the inmate and struck him with her hand multiple times,' the statement said. Court records in the case were not accessible Thursday evening. Also in 2023, Anderson Jean, a detention deputy, was arrested after an investigation found that he had allegedly worked with an inmate and the inmate's wife to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the jail for the inmate to then sell. He pleaded guilty in June 2024 and was sentenced to two years of community control, followed by three years of probation, court records show. In 2021, inmate Kevin Desir died days after a violent struggle inside of his cell with six deputies as he was suffering an apparent mental breakdown. A medical examiner who performed Desir's autopsy ruled his cause and manner of death were undetermined. The Sheriff's Office in its own internal investigation and the State Attorney's Office in 2022 cleared all deputies who were involved. Desir's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2023. This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Florida disease-tracking chart returns: Measles, mpox, hepatitis surveillance now available
Disease-tracking information in Florida is available again, allowing residents to learn about outbreaks in their county once more. Florida Department of Health surveillance data, which previously made public the number of current cases of each vaccine-preventable disease by county, had been removed from the state website for several months. The removal, disclosed earlier this month by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, came shortly after a measles case was reported in Miami in March. Measles is among the most contagious diseases in the world, and case counts in the United States are spiking with more than 1,000 reported in 2025. Florida's chart, which contains current trends for communicable diseases, has long been relied upon by epidemiologists and medical professionals for tracking purposes. It includes up-to-date information on outbreaks in Florida, such as measles, mpox and Hepatitis A. Department of Health spokeswoman Isabel Kilman did not respond to the South Florida Sun Sentinel's multiple requests for an explanation of why the chart had been removed, but she told the Tallahassee Democrat that the website was undergoing an upgrade. It doesn't appear that any functions of the chart have changed. Here are some key tracking points the chart now reveals about vaccine preventable diseases: A child in Broward County less than 4 years old contracted measles in April, marking the second case in South Florida in two months. The child acquired the disease outside of the U.S. Broward leads the state in new cases of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox). Thirteen cases of mpox have been reported in Florida so far this year, three in Broward County. In 2022, Florida was part of a nationwide outbreak of monkeypox. 14 cases of leprosy (Hansen's Disease) have been reported in Florida in 2025. In August 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned travelers that leprosy cases in Florida were surging. At the time, Florida was among the top reporting states with nearly 30 cases. The BCG vaccine, while primarily for TB, can offer some protection against leprosy, particularly if someone in the household has leprosy. The state has been grappling with a massive rise in pertussis (whooping cough). There have been 614 cases reported in Florida since January. To date in 2025, the CDC has reported over 8,000 cases of whooping cough, a more than two-fold increase from the same time last year. The CDC recommends whooping cough vaccines for people of all ages. Already in 2025, 63 cases of Hepatitis A have been reported in the state. Florida has grappled with a spread of Hepatitis A for several years, predating the pandemic. In 2019, Florida experienced a statewide outbreak with more than 2,000 cases reported. Dr. Aileen Marty, a professor at Florida International University and an expert in infectious disease and disaster medicine, said surveillance plays a vital role in public health. 'It's important for clinicians and families to know when something is spreading for which we have a prevention,' said Marty, with Florida International University's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. 'Having good and timely information makes a huge difference in diagnosing a case earlier and helping parents make decisions or take action.' Tracking disease spread has become more critical as vaccination rates have dropped. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, only 88.1% of kindergartners in Florida were vaccinated against measles in the 2023-2024 school year. Herd immunity for measles requires a 95% vaccination rate. Florida's rate is one of the lowest in the nation. Florida's pediatricians say that real-time surveillance helps them guide parents in making informed decisions about vaccination. 'We end up playing catch-up after a child contracts a vaccine-preventable illness, and then we start looking at who else is vulnerable and start offering vaccines,' said Jennifer Takagishi, professor of pediatrics and division chief of General Academic Pediatrics at the University of South Florida. Florida's surveillance chart tracks close to 100 diseases, indicating the age range, county, diagnosis status and whether the person acquired the disease inside Florida, inside the U.S. or outside the U.S. Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@
