(WSVN) - From the skies to the streets, 7 Investigates covered a lot of ground in 2021. Here’s investigative reporter Karen Hansel with a look back.
These two eviction cases were anything but ordinary.
Joel Magolnick, attorney: “I have never seen one of my client’s cases turned into a TV show like ‘Breaking Bad.’ It’s shocking.”
What started with a couple being evicted from a luxury high-rise condo…
David Winker, attorney: “They did leave things behind. They did not leave behind a meth lab.”
Ended with high drama in Bal Harbour when the bomb squad responded to what police called a meth lab.
7 Investigates obtained video from inside the condo unit.
David Melenkevitz, former DEA special agent: “It’s definitely a propane torch back there, might be a digital scale or pedestal to crush powder. Some other jars of potential chemicals.”
There have been no arrests, and the police investigation continues.
A homeowner had to sue to have her sister and a man evicted from the front porch of her Miami home.
A neighbor first contacted us about the pair who had made this yard their living room for years.
Neighbor: “You find them laying down in the yard. You don’t know if they’re alive, if they’re dead.”
Our cameras captured the woman eating, talking on her cellphone, feeding cats, painting and defecating behind plants. Even an Amazon driver was seen delivering bags of groceries to the porch.
Karen Hensel: “I’m going to leave my card for you.”
Woman: “Get off my property.”
Karen Hensel: “This is not your property.”
The couple is gone. A fence is now up.
Animal stories were front and center in 2021, from a flap over feeding birds in Miramar, to a Bengal tiger in the backyard of a Miami mansion known for its wild pandemic parties.
Airline insiders sounded the alarm, saying the air inside planes literally made them sick. Outside air is pumped into the plane through the jet engines. Heated oil can sometimes leak and contaminate the cabin air with toxic gas.
Karen Hensel: “Do you feel you’re slowly being poisoned?”
Flight attendant: “Yes, and have been for some time. Absolutely.”
From the skies to the streets.
We spotlighted a spike in stolen cars equipped with powerful expensive Hellcat engines.
Fahim Siddiqui: “You see the car lights flash as if it was deactivated. The car started up, and they back out, and they drive off. I know a lot about cars, and they know a lot more.”
Miami-Dade Police officer: “Get the dog. I’m gonna shoot it.”
Investigators found a Miami-Dade Police officer “justified” when he shot and killed Sylvan Plowright’s dog, Niles.
Plowright had called 911 to report a burglary at a neighbor’s house, but officers responded to his home instead.
Officer: “Pick up your [expletive] dog! Pick up the dog!”
Sylvan Plowright: “Hey!”
Plowright is now suing the county.
After the devastating collapse of Champlain Towers South, we heard from a survivor of another deadly South Florida building failure.
Kevan Cramer: “The lights flickered. The ceiling tiles lifted. Dust was coming down.”
In 1974, part of the Drug Enforcement Administration Building in Miami collapsed.
That tragedy led to the 40-year recertification process coming under scrutiny after the Surfside tragedy. A grand jury report is now recommending buildings be recertified at 10 to 15 years instead of 40.
As we turn the page from a difficult 2021, we also want to hear from you in 2022. If you have a tip, story idea or issue you think we should investigate, call or email us.
CONTACT 7INVESTIGATES:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
clue@wsvn.com
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