.@MiamiHerald: I’d like to buy a vowel! Restaurant rape suspect arrssted by North Miami Beach police. http://t.co/HRwRM3i6gE

— Random Pixels blog (@Random_Pixels) January 27, 2014

I just watched the 4:30 news broadcast on WSVN Channel 7.  Since the video is not yet posted on its website, I have transcribed some of the newscast for you.

Reporter Rosh Lowe stated:

“We’ve been out here the entire day trying to get more information from North Miami Beach Police.  Finally, they alerted the media that they have made an arrest in this case.  This occurred back in January…January 16th, a couple of weeks ago.  Let’s get right to our video and I’ll give you the back story on this and give you the update.”

The reporter then reiterated the facts of the case, the narrative of which was published in the Updated Press Release issued earlier this afternoon, and spelled out as follows:

On January 16, 2014, the victim was picking up food from a restaurant located at 1026 North Miami Beach Blvd.  As she returned to her vehicle, which was parked in the rear parking lot of the building, she was approached by at least two black male subjects wearing black gloves and armed with handguns.  The victim was forced into the back seat of a vehicle and driven away. The victim was then driven to the Oak Grove Area in North Miami Dade County, where she was sexually assaulted by multiple subjects.

The newscast also reported that once the Police Department released the surveillance video, they got a lead over the weekend which led to the arrest of one of the suspects.

The reporter went on to say:

“The police are not releasing the name or the age or the picture of the person arrested, citing that this is an ongoing investigation, that they are working with other agencies to perhaps solve other crimes.”

He continued:

“You may remember we also did a story with North Miami Police, who are dealing with a very similar situation that occurred in their jurisdiction on January 11th, so I believe at this point multiple agencies are speaking with each other.”

Wait a minute!  STOP THE PRESSES!

The North Miami Beach Police Department finally admitted that they were working with “other agencies?”  This after they emphatically stated in their previous Updated Press Release that “Our detectives have no reason to believe this is connected to any other similar cases?”  This was despite the fact that I had already reported on January 21, 2014 that “North Miami Police Major Neal Cuevas told reporter Rosh Lowe, “On the surface of it, there is enough about these two crimes to have the investigators initiate contact with each other to determine if they are related.  The fact that it was a woman getting to or into her car, the fact that she was approached by individuals armed, the fact that they [the victims] were placed back in the car, or in our particular case, in the trunk of the car, and they were driven around.”

Somebody’s got some ‘splainin’ to do!

Just saying.

The public is now aware that at least one arrest has been made.  The Public Information Officers are still not giving interviews, claiming that “releasing any additional information today could compromise this open investigation in many ways.”

Copy that!

Clearly, the media is respecting the wishes of the North Miami Beach Police Department.  I hope that respect will be a two way street, and that the PD will continue to cooperate with reporters so that the public will remain informed.

Meanwhile, the Miami Herald just now fixed its boo boo after being shamed by Random Pixels.

Lights are on, nobody’s home.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”