Bronx supermarket owner foils alleged slip-and-fall scam
The alleged scam played out inside his East Tremont Fine Fare store on Jan. 22. The video shows the man's apparent accomplice first pouring water on the floor to assist in the theatrics.
More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State
Moments later another would-be-victim comes along, lifts several cases of water, and then falls flat on his behind after stepping on the wet floor.
'We are all victims today of this insurance fraud,' said store owner Miguel Luna.
Not even two weeks later, on Feb. 2, Luna got a letter from the man's lawyer notifying him that his insurance carrier was being sued for personal injuries.
'Everybody could see that was fake,' Luna said.
When PIX11 News contacted the claimant's attorney Tuesday, he said in an email that he had dropped the client.
But if Luna hadn't been diligent, he says it could have been costly for him—and ultimately for store customers, since owners often have to raise their prices.
'Sometimes the insurance doesn't want to spend money on lawyers [fees]. They settle for $20,000 or $30,000,' Luna explained.
NYPD warns of online dating scams as Valentine's Day approaches
'It happens a lot of times,' added Francisco Marte of the Bodega and Small Business Group.
That's why the association is working with owners to install high-definition cameras to foil phony claims. A recent $1 million state grant helped 75 stores install the enhanced security.
'The next phase will be Harlem and Washington Heights,' Marte said.
Luna already invested in a top-of-the-line system complete with facial recognition technology that sounds an alarm when banned customers try to enter.
Loss prevention technology proving to pay dividends when it comes to frivolous claims and petty criminals for this small business owner.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Grenade killed 3 Los Angeles sheriff's officials, but second grenade unaccounted for
LOS ANGELES — One of two grenades taken to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department facility detonated last week and killed three detectives, but the second grenade remains unaccounted for, the sheriff said Friday. The sheriff's officials on the Special Enforcement Bureau's Arson Explosives Detail believed the two military-style grenades they seized from a Santa Monica storage unit on July 17 were inert, but one of them detonated the next day and killed the three men, officials said. A federal investigation has determined that the second grenade remains unaccounted for, Sheriff Robert Luna said. Investigators have used X-rays and searched vehicles and lockers at the East Los Angeles facility, as well as the blast site and facility perimeter, since the explosion, he said. 'We have looked at everything out there that we possibly could,' Luna said. He said the investigation into how the explosion happened was ongoing. 'Right now there's a second grenade, that we're not 100% sure where it's at,' Luna said. The explosion occurred around 7:30 a.m. July 18 at the sheriff's department Biscailuz Training Facility. Killed were detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn, who were all on the Special Enforcement Bureau's Arson Explosives Detail. The day before the explosion, the detail was called to help Santa Monica police after two grenades were found in a tenant storage unit in a building's underground parking garage, Luna said. The explosives detectives 'X-rayed the devices and believed that they were both inert,' Luna said. The devices were taken to the facility to be destroyed and rendered safe, he said. Officials do not believe the second grenade was lost en route from Santa Monica to the training center, Luna said. 'We believe with confidence that did not occur,' he said. Santa Monica is around 20 miles away from East Los Angeles. But if anyone sees what appears to be a grenade, explosive device, or even an unknown object, they are warned not to touch it, and to call 911. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will lead the investigation into the whereabouts of the second device, Luna said. The ATF has also sent its National Response Team to Los Angeles. 'I can tell you with clarity from our post-blast examination that we know one device exploded,' ATF Los Angeles Division Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper said. "And we have not recovered any evidence from a second device on that scene." Cooper said investigators, including using explosives-detecting dogs, drones, and cherry pickers to look in trees, have "meticulously examined the radius of over 400 feet from the blast seat, multiple times." "Over the abundance of caution, we searched a blast area far greater than the results of that explosive device," Cooper said. There has been changes in how the sheriff's department handles explosives, including treating all devices, even ones believed to be inert, as live, Luna said. Luna said he has called for a thorough after-action review department policies. "We're going to turn this upside down. We're going to look at everything." Luna said.

Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Is father facing death penalty for heinous child murder competent to stand trial?
A man accused of committing one of the most heinous acts of child abuse in South Florida in recent memory was in court for the first time in over a year Tuesday, as forensic psychologists dueled over his competency. In March of last year Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson determined that Jorge Barahona was delusional and incompetent to stand trial and ordered him moved from jail oversight — where he'd been for 13 years — to the state's Department of Children & Families. Now, 16 months later and after Barahona spent a year at a mental health facility on the Treasure Coast, Wolfson is undertaking the same task — but with testimony from more mental health experts in a hearing that is expected to end later this week. At Tuesday's hearing, Barahona, 58, sat next to defense attorney Carmen Vizcaino in the jury box. Looking little like the broad shouldered, curly-haired imposing figure that first took the witness stand 14 years ago, Barahona was dressed in a red jumpsuit signifying he was of high-risk. Barahona had already been severely beaten by five inmates while he was asleep at the county's Pre-Trial Detention Center in 2021. Now, his hair is thinned, long and stringy and he's lost significant weight. During the hearing, the defendant's hands were cuffed and tied to a chain around his waist, though he seemed at ease, chatting with Vizcaino and looking around the courtroom. He didn't utter a word during the proceeding. Barahona, 58, has been shuttled between Miami-Dade jail and mental health facilities since Valentine's Day 2011, when police found the body of his adopted 10-year-old daughter Nubia Barahona wrapped in a plastic covered with chemicals and decomposing in the bed of a pick-up truck on the side of I-95 in West Palm Beach. Her twin brother Victor — who miraculously survived — was in the truck's cab suffering seizures from chemical burns. Next to him at the wheel of the vehicle was Jorge Barahona, who was also suffering from chemical burns. Investigators soon determined that the twins had been beaten and tortured in the family's Westchester home and said they were starved and tied up in the bathtub for long periods of time with the door locked. Barahona and his wife Carmen Barahona were charged with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and several counts of aggravated child neglect. Carmen, 74, accepted a life settlement in 2020 in exchange for her testimony. Her husband — should he ever go to trial — is facing the death penalty. Trial was delayed for years as the state's child welfare agency dealt with the fallout and attorneys took hundreds of depositions. Victor, who was last know to be living with relatives in Texas, was awarded $3.75 million by Florida state legislators in 2017. Carmen then took her plea as COVID hit. Dueling psychologists have opposing perceptions of Barahona On Tuesday, a pair of clinical psychologists took the witness stand as defense attorneys and prosecutors argued as to whether Jorge Barahona could stand trial. First up for the defense was clinical and forensic psychologist Jennifer Rohrer, who has spent several hours and several sessions with Barahona since September 2023. Though she found him always 'pleasant and co-operative,' she also said he provided 'delusional and psychotic-based answers.' Rohrer said it was her opinion that Barahona wasn't mentally fit to stand trial. 'He's unwilling and unable to accept that he may be incorrect,' she said. He believes 'he is innocent and this has been a conspiracy by multiple law enforcement agencies and his attorneys and the media.' Next up was state witness Lina Haji, a forensic psychologist who evaluates police officers looking for work in the Florida Keys. She said Barahona was competent to stand trial and said in the three hours over two years that she evaluated Barahona she found no sign of mental illness and said that he's never taken psychotropic drugs. Haji said she was convinced Barahona would act properly in a courtroom, that he would understand the arguments on both sides and that he could help his defense team. 'He's capable of testifying truthfully,' Haji said. 'He conveyed that to me in an organized manner.' Testimony is expected to resume Wednesday before Judge Wolfson.


Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
How Miami's airport and seaport are working to get you fresher fruit and flowers
Miami International Airport is boosting cargo capacity by as much as 50% with a new facility that broke ground on Monday, a sign of its expanding role in providing fresh fish, fruit and flowers to consumers across the East Coast. The $141 million joint initiative with PortMiami will transform vacant land southwest of the airport at Northwest 74th Avenue and 12th Street. Slated to open in 2027, the 340,000-square-foot cold storage complex, about the size of six NFL fields, will allow more fresh produce and other perishables to enter the U.S. through Miami. Hollywood-based Mandich Group, a privately held cold storage development firm, is putting in $98.5 million and the PortMiami will contribute $9 million. The port will also provide $33.5 million it obtained from a U.S. Department of Transportation grant. 'It will be the first center of its kind in the state of Florida and the largest in the U.S.,' PortMiami spokesperson Suzy Trutie said in an interview with the Miami Herald. The airport and seaport receive lots of perishables. PortMiami puts them on trucks and sends them to MIA for storage and treatment before they're further transported. The new building will allow them to do more of that. 'For us, it's a way to expand our cargo business and trade,' Trutie said. The new center has the capacity to handle over 1.5 million tons of agricultural cargo annually, Greg Chin, communications director for Miami-Date Aviation Department, told the Herald. That's half the 3 million tons the airport received in 2024. Booming Valentine's Day MIA is growing, not just in passenger volume, but in freight, and it seeks to keep up with rising demand. The amount of cargo it handled in 2024 was a record for the fifth straight year. That included the vast majority of fresh-cut flowers the U.S. imports for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. By Valentine's Day 2025, airport officials estimated that more than 90,000 tons of fresh-cut flowers arrived at the airport. That was also a new record for MIA, 3% higher than the previous record set in 2023. It totaled about $400 million in value. Fed Ex Private companies have taken notice. MIA is the site of FedEx's largest 'cold chain operation' worldwide, Basil Khalil, vice president of operations for FedEx Caribbean and Central America, told the Herald in February. About three years ago, the shipping company made a big bet on Miami by doubling the size of its cargo facility at MIA, said the Miami-based executive. That brought it to over 280,000 square feet. FedEx has more than 500 employees at the site. 'The flower industry helps employ thousands of people in Colombia and here at MIA,' Khalil said. It's not only during Valentine's Day that bouquets come in. Several hundred airport, seaports and border crossings handle international trade, yet MIA stands out. In 2024, the U.S. imported $2.26 billion in fresh-cut flowers, an increase in value of 9% compared to 2023, according to data provided by Ken Roberts, founder and CEO of WorldCity, a data and media company that hosts the website. MIA handled a whopping 81% of that. Colombian carrier Avianca Cargo and LATAM Cargo both have robust operations at MIA. DHL Express is growing, too. MIA has other works in progress for boosting cargo capacity. In July 2024, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a lease agreement with Miami Gateway Partners, LLC, to build a four-story cargo facility that would increase Miami International Airport's storage capacity by 2 million tons. PortMiami PortMiami is growing its cargo business as well. It traded with 149 nations and handled about 10 million tons of freight in 2024. The space that broke ground on Monday — drawing officials including Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava — more directly benefits perishables. The complex will include a cold chain processing facility that provides cold storage, warehousing, distribution and other services for perishable goods. When the facility is complete, it will increase temperature-controlled storage space at MIA by as much as 34%, to 521,000 square feet, Chin said. The cold storage area will cover about 80% of the new space. The remaining 20% will be a new area to eradicate pests from refrigerated cargo containers and air cargo pallets. That treatment area will utilize non-chemical 'advanced treatments and inspection capabilities' to speed up inspections of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other plant-based perishable items, said Trutie, the PortMiami spokesperson. This will mark a change from the chemical treatment used today. The Norcross, Georgia-based company Reveam will be brought in, providing a new pasteurization technology for fresh produce it developed that doesn't use chemicals or heat, but electrons. The treatments are certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and meant to expedite inspections for 'invasive pests and diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture.' The new cold storage complex is expected to result in 200 new jobs. It'll have environmental benefits too: The early pest and disease detection will help preserve native ecosystems. And 'it's going to reduce spoilage and inspection delays,' Levine Cava said at the ceremony on Monday.