Florida
Florida Walmart shopper nearly kidnapped, stuffed into car trunk by knife-wielding sex offender while packing groceries: ‘I’ll slice your throat’
A Florida woman was nearly thrown into the trunk of her car with her would-be kidnapper holding a knife to her and threatening to “slice” her throat if she didn’t comply.
Veronica Jones had just finished shopping at an Orlando Walmart on Monday at around 4:30 p.m. and was putting her groceries into her trunk when the horrifying ordeal went down, according to WESH 2.
“All of a sudden, somebody grabbed me full body,” Jones told the outlet, revealing at first she thought it was someone she may know trying to pull a prank on her.
“He kept pushing me, I was pinned against my car, he kept pushing me toward my trunk as he was pulling my purse at the same time.”
The suspect, later identified by police as 54-year-old Juan Perez, demanded that she cough up her purse and cash.
Jones said she was “fighting” to keep her purse because it contained all her important valuables.
However, she quickly realized the perp was willing to get violent when he put a knife to her throat and threatened her life.
“Then he put something to my neck, which he says if you don’t stop this, I’m going to slice your throat, if you don’t give me your purse,” Jones shared.
Perez continued to push her into the truck, with the blade still pressed against her throat, causing Jones to go into “survival mode.”
Jones said she “started screaming” for help, but her cries were swiftly muffled out when the would-be kidnapper shoved a glove down her throat, she told the outlet.
Fortunately, she got out one shout for “help,” which alerted a nearby bystander, who rushed over and scared the violent suspect off.
“She heard me say help, so she got out of the car, and then at this time, we’re tugging on the purse, and he got it cause the strap broke,” Jones told the outlet.
The brave bystander later told law enforcement she saw the victim’s “legs flailing out of the trunk” and the suspect trying to push her in, according to an affidavit obtained by Fox 35.
When the suspect took off with her purse, the Walmart shopper lost her wallet, driver’s license, insurance card, phone, gift cards, $60 in cash, and a $125 check.
Jones was left with a mark on her neck where the suspect had pressed the knife into her during the frightening ordeal. She denied medical attention at the scene.
But she’s just grateful the good Samaritan heard her pleas for help and intervened.
“I’d like to thank the girl that stopped though, because she stayed with me the whole time, she was a lot of help,” Jones told WESH 2.
Police arrested Perez the following day after a GPS he was wearing from a past crime put him at the scene of the attempted kidnapping and armed robbery.
Perez’s car was also spotted in the parking lot during that time, and his probation officer verified him as the perp from stills off of Walmart’s security cameras, according to the outlet.
He was taken before a judge following his arrest and charged with attempted kidnapping, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery, and destruction of evidence, according to the Orlando Police Department.
He is being held at the Orange County Jail without bond. Perez is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Sept. 10.
Perez was on federal probation for a previous kidnapping charge when he allegedly tried kidnapping Jones and stole her purse using the deadly weapon, according to Fox 35.
He is also a registered sex offender in Florida for Lewd Or Lascivious Battery of a victim 12-15 years old from 2004.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Federal judge blocks DeSantis executive order declaring CAIR a 'terrorist organization'
Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Wisconsin4 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Massachusetts3 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Maryland5 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida5 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Oregon7 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling