Two women were so desperate to get the still experimental Covid-19 mRNA shots that they dressed up as "grannies" to skip the line.
Florida health officials say the two women aroused suspicion immediately.
"So yesterday, we realized a couple of young ladies came dressed up as grannies to get vaccinated for the second time. So I don't know how they escaped the first time," said Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, during a press briefing on Thursday.
According to Dr. Pino, the two women showed up to the Orange County Convention Center wearing bonnets, gloves and glasses -- "the whole thing," he said. The women wore disguises to make themselves eligible to receive the vaccination outside of a health care or long-term care facility setting.
The women had valid vaccination cards for their first injections, but there was an issue with their driver's licenses on the second go 'round.
Their dates of birth "did not match those they had used to register for the vaccines," said the Orange County Sheriff's Office in a statement. "The names, however, did match the registration."
The sheriff's office identified the women as Olga Monroy-Ramirez, 44, and Martha Vivian Monroy, 34.
The women were not arrested or cited. But security was increased at the vaccination site.
"This is the hottest commodity that is out there right now," the director said. "So we have to be very careful with the funds and the resources that we are provided."
NBC's Shep Smith fantasizes about "a time when we won't have to wear the masks anymore." But for many Floridians and Georgians, that time is now.
NBC's Sam Brock filmed a video of a supermarket in Naples, Florida where both employees and customers don't wear masks. The video shows maskless shoppers and employees smiling and chatting face-to-face.
There are no mask mandates or Covid-19 restrictions in Florida, where the death rate is less than half of the rates in heavily restricted blue states.
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Masks are not enforced in the store because the store's guidelines include medical exemptions. A sign that greets shoppers states: "If we see you without a mask, we will assume you have a medical condition and we will welcome you inside to support our business."
Brock asked the store owner, Alfie Oakes: "Is your position about medical exemptions or is it about the fact that you don't think masks work...?"
"I know that the masks don't work and I know that the virus has not killed 400,000 people in this country," Oakes replied. "That's total hogwash,"
The video quickly went viral on social media.
In other news, the CDC and state health officials are sounding the alarm because white people are getting vaccinated at higher rates than Black people.
Data from 23 states shows that white Americans are being vaccinated at rates of up to three times higher than Black Americans.
Despite the fear mongering about new virus “variants" and “mutations," Black people are wary of vaccination efforts in the Black community for a virus that has a lower death rate than the seasonal flu.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of an 11th suspect who received $2,000 in federal CARES Act Funds intended for residents who were financially impacted by Covid-19.
Saget Genoret, 33, a Publix employee in Lakeland, was arrested after he used a falsified letter on a Publix letterhead to apply for the $2,000 benefits. Genoret claimed Publix cut his hours due to the pandemic.
During a Friday afternoon press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrests of 10 suspects who fraudulently obtained Covid relief funds.
Judd said the fraud started with 49-year-old Phyllis Tirado -- a manager of McDonald's located at 416 West Central Avenue in Lake Wales.
TIrado didn't apply for funds herself, but she allegedly falsified a letter for a McDonald's worker whom she "felt sorry" for.
The employee, 34-year-old Ebony Chaney, received $2,000 in Covid relief funds from the federal CARES Act distributed through the Polk County CARES ACT program.
Authorities say Chaney didn't qualify for the funds she received.
"[Tirado] felt sorry for her employees," Judd explained. "Thought they could use some extra money so she dummied up a letter for one."
The form was then altered to remove Chaney's information and copies were handed out to employees at Publix, a literacy program, and the Scott Lake Health & Rehabilitation.
"In some instances," Judd said, "they took signed forms, scanned them in... and then wrote the information in. interestingly enough, in one of them, they spelled Phyllis' name wrong."
Judd added: "Yesterday, when we started arresting people, if you were in line at McDonald's, and you got your hamburger and it was cold, it's because we were arresting people."
The investigation, which began in June, is still ongoing. Judd said more arrests are expected. He issued a word of warning to anyone who stole money from the CARES Act: "If I were you, I would beat feet down to the county and give that money back before we figure it out."
He said the judge is more likely to be lenient with those who returned the funds before sheriff's deputies show up at their door with arrest warrants.
The suspects were charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID.
One man, Mervin Suttle, 36, of Bartow, was also charged with fraudulently receiving food stamps and unemployment.
Another suspect, Patricia Taylor, 38, of Lakeland, worked as an LPN at a nursing home.
All of the suspects lost their jobs following their arrests.
Two Florida women are behind bars, accused of impersonating Sarasota police officers.
Police arrested Jymieka McDowell, 28, and 39-year-old Ryshawnna Poole, who are accused of impersonating a police officer more than once.
Police responded to a 911 call about a suspicious traffic stop at 1 a.m. Sunday. The caller told dispatch they believed a Sarasota Police Department officer was in distress.
While searching the area for the distressed officer, police stumbled upon the two women pulling over a vehicle while impersonating police officers.
During the investigation, police learned the women live-streamed their fake traffic stops where they used profanity and ordered occupants out of their vehicles.
The women can be heard telling the victims, "driver, exit the vehicle," "put your ******* hands up driver," "I need everyone to exit the ******* car," "do not make a move," "Black lives don't ******* matter," and "anybody move and I will shoot."
Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino advised motorists to call 911 dispatch if they suspect they are being pulled over by someone impersonating a police officer.
A judge has ruled that a Miami strip club can keep its doors open past Miami-Dade County's "illegal" Covid-19 curfew.
Tootsie's strip club in Miami Gardens won a civil case that was closely watched by other local business owners who were forced to close amid the fading Covid-19 pandemic.
Tootsie's will be allowed to stay open past the county's Covid-19 curfew nearly three months after the curfew was put in place.
Miami-Dade County ordered all non-essential businesses to close at 11 p.m. to stop the spread of the weakening coronavirus.
Tootsie's filed a lawsuit, and last week, Judge Beatrice Butchko ruled that Tootsie's can remain open all night because of Gov. Ron DeSantis' statewide executive order that slaps down local mandates such as face masks and lockdowns.
"The Miami-Dade curfew orders conflict with [DeSantis' executive order] because they prohibit Tootsie's from operating; they prohibit employees and contractors from working; and they reduce capacity to zero for the entire time subject to the curfew," Butchko wrote in her ruling.
Broward County Mayor Dale Holness also imposed a similar order to close all businesses at 11 p.m.
Nightclub owners in Broward County demanded answers from Mayor Holness, who said businesses would still have to shut down at 11 p.m.
Strip clubs are considered essential businesses because they provide a much-needed outlet to release pent-up sexual tension in the male species.
Florida will lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants and bars a day after President Donald Trump spoke to thousands of supporters at his campaign rally in Jacksonville on Thursday.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says he will prohibit local governments from closing businesses or imposing restrictions without justification.
The move comes after the CDC updated statistics that prove the Covid-19 death rate has declined to less than 99.8%.
"There will not be limitations from the state of Florida," DeSantis said during a press conference Friday. "I think this will be very, very important to the industry. Some of the local [governments] can do reasonable regulations, but you can't say no after six months and just have people twisting in the wind."
DeSantis said if local officials want to impose restrictions on residents, they'd better show unaltered economic and health justifications.
"We're not closing anything moving forward. We have the tools in place," DeSantis said.
Cavett, who has been missing since July 17, was not in the truck, according to Hollywood police who took over the missing person case from Miramar police.
She was reported missing by her family after her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn Cavett Arnold, was found wandering alone inside an apartment complex in Miramar, Fl. on Sunday morning. He was wearing only a soiled diaper and a t-shirt.
A neighbor, Lori Rodriguez, took the boy in and changed his diaper before calling 911.
Police collected surveillance video from a Walmart store in Hollywood, not far from where Kamdyn was found. A witness spotted Cavett and Kamdyn with a man at the Walmart on Sunday.
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"Miramar Police received information that Leila Cavett had recently traveled to Florida from Alabama, and that her last known location was possibly in the area of Hollywood Boulevard and US 441. Additionally, Miramar Police located Ms. Cavett's vehicle in Hollywood's jurisdiction," Hollywood police said in a statement.
A man who says he is Kamdyn's father, Daniel Lee West, told the Miami Herald he wants to take custody of his son. He has been in contact with the Florida Apartment of Children and Family Services.
"CPS [the Florida Department of Children and Families] is supposed to tell me what to do. I am coming there as soon as they do," West told the Herald.
CPS requested a DNA test from West to establish paternity. He said he was never in a relationship with Cavett, who was dating another man, Levi Arnold, at the time.
"We were never together; it was just a hookup. Our relationship was about Kamdyn only," said West, who is currently engaged to another woman.
Arnold's name is on the birth certificate, but he denied being Kamdyn's father. West said he gave Cavett money for Kamdyn, and he was supposed to see his son on Friday, July 24, but Cavett never answered her phone.
Kamdyn was reunited with his two aunts who traveled from Alabama to Miramar police headquarters on Wednesday, but he will remain in the care of a foster parent until a court hearing in August.
Cavett's grandmother is prepared for the worst because Cavett would never abandon her son.
"I think she been snatched up off the streets. She would have never left her baby, never," said Carol Ferdinand, Cavett's grandmother, from Nashville, Tennessee. "She's my granddaughter, I know her, she would never have left Kamdyn; that's not her character."
Police in Miramar, Florida have identified the toddler who was found wandering barefoot in an apartment complex on Sunday.
On Monday evening, Miramar police confirmed that the abandoned boy is the son of a missing Georgia woman, 21-year-old Leila Cavett.
Cavett lives in Atlanta and works at a Dunkin' Donuts, according to her Facebook page.
"Detectives are actively searching for Leila Cavett, who may be the mother of the child found yesterday," Miramar police tweeted. "We are concerned for her safety and well-being," police said.
Cavett was last seen driving a mid-to-late 90s white Chevy 3500, with a red tailgate and a "Baby on Board" sign on the passenger window, according to police.
Ebony Williams, a resident of an apartment complex in Miramar, had just returned from the store when she spotted the toddler standing alone in a parking spot before 8 a.m.
"I heard him crying when I got out of the truck, but when I approached him he wasn't crying anymore," Williams said.
The barefoot boy was wearing nothing but a soiled diaper and t-shirt, she told WPLG-TV.
"He's very pleasant, very friendly. I asked him, 'Where's your mommy?' And he kind of just like pointed everywhere."
The mom-of-4 said the boy grabbed her two fingers when she held her hand out to him.
Williams approached neighbor Lori Rodriguez, a blonde Latina who has children who resemble the toddler.
Rodriguez took the boy in and changed his diaper. The two women continued searching the apartment complex for the boy's parents before calling 911.
"All of my friends, we are all still waiting for the Amber Alert to say that somebody was looking for this baby," Williams told WPLG. "It's heartbreaking because nobody is looking."
"Please help me find my sister my heart is breaking," Gina Lewis, who said she was Cavett's sister, wrote in a Facebook post Monday afternoon.
"I cannot breathe," she added.
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Lewis, who asked for donations to travel to Miramar on Monday, said she was certain that the curly haired tot in social media photos is her 2-year-old nephew, Kamdyn Cavett.
"That is my nephew, 100%," Lewis told 7News via FaceTime. She said she last saw her sister on July 17.
Lewis said she is relieved the boy is safe, but now she's worried about her sister, who doesn't have friends or family in Florida.
"She never mentioned to us about going anywhere. We're in the middle of a pandemic, so I don't understand why she would just go on vacation to Florida," Lewis said.
According to True Crime Society, Dannylee West, who claims to be Kamdyn's biological father, posted Facebook photos of himself with a toddler who looks like Kamdyn.
He took offense to Facebook users saying he was a deadbeat dad.
"I do know my son," he wrote. He added that he was supposed to see his son on Friday, July 24, but Leila never responded.
West, who is engaged to another woman, said he last spoke to Cavett on Friday, and he was waiting for child custody to call him back.
According to Websleuths, another man, Levi Arnold, is named on Kamdyn's birth certificate as the biological father.
But Arnold denies fathering Kamdyn. He said he dated Leila when she was pregnant, but they broke up and he hasn't seen her in a year.
Cavett wasn't friends with her siblings on Facebook and none of them 'liked' any of her photos.
"Only the worst things possible are going through my mind because I know my sister, and she might do some crazy things sometimes," Lewis said.
"I definitely worry that she's in danger, sure. It would mean everything to find her and know that she's safe because this is just out of character. She would not leave Kamdyn in those conditions."
The woman who found Kamdyn wandering alone credits God with putting her in the right place to find him before anything bad happened to him.
"He could have gotten hit by a car... anything could have happened to him," she said. "I wanted vanilla coffee creamer at 7 in the morning — that's really how it happened. God's good. He knew what he was doing and he put me in the right spot. I am not a hero, not anything else. I'm just a mom."
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Miramar Police at 954-602-4000.
Police in Miramar, Florida still can't locate the parents of a toddler who was found wandering barefoot in an apartment complex on Sunday.
The curly haired mixed-race boy, wearing only a soiled diaper and a T-shirt, was found wandering around an apartment complex near the 1860 block of SW 68th Avenue.
A woman who found the boy took him to her neighbor, Lori Rodriguez, because she thought the boy belonged to her.
"Being that I have blonde hair and the baby has blonde hair, she ended up at my door which was open because I was doing laundry," Rodriguez told Miami ABC affiliate WPLG Local 10.
Rodriguez took the toddler in and changed his diaper. She then accompanied her neighbor to search for the child's parents.
"We walked around and looked to see if anyone was nearby. None of us have ever seen the baby before," she said.
The approximately 2-year-old toddler, who didn't know his name or age, was placed in the care of a foster parent.
By Monday afternoon, police still had not located his parents or guardians. Police canvassed the neighborhood where he was found, knocking on doors and talking to anyone who might know him.
Many citizens contacted the Miramar police asking to donate items to him, but the police say he has been provided with necessities. They thanked the community for the outpouring of support.
Anyone with information about his identity or his parents or guardian's identity is urged to contact the Miramar Police Department at (954) 602-4000.
An inmate who received a compassionate release from a Tampa jail amid the coronavirus pandemic committed murder hours later.
Thousands of "non-violent" inmates were released from jails and prisons around the country as part of the federal compassionate release program spearheaded by Attorney General William Barr.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Offices says Joseph Williams was among 150 inmates released from the Hillsborough County jail due to the coronavirus, according to WFLA.
Williams was previously arrested for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. His charges made him eligible for compassionate release.
But 24 hours after he was released, Williams, 26, was re-arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Williams reportedly shot a man near 81st Street South and Ash Avenue just hours after winning his freedom.
"There is no question Joseph Williams took advantage of this health emergency to commit crimes while he was out of jail awaiting resolution of a low-level, non-violent offense," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "As a result, I call on the State Attorney to prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law."
Williams' bond was set at $250,000, according to WFLA.
