(WSVN) – If we told you this all happened in one area, you might say no way. Sued by a police officer who tripped on your property? Fined a million dollars by the city? All of it, and more, happened in South Florida, and it’s why we bring in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.

Only in South Florida can you get out of the car to help your daughter unload her luggage and be breaking the law.

Matthew Zifroney: “Popped the trunk, I took one of her bags out, walked it over to the curbside, dropped the bag off.”

When Matthew walked back to his car at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, he was met by a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Matthew Zifroney: “And the officer said, ‘Why didn’t you respond to me when I was screaming out, who owns this car?’ And I said, ‘I’m real sorry, I didn’t hear you, I was 10 feet away, helping my daughter.’”

Ten feet away from his car, but the officer said he abandoned the vehicle.

Matthew Zifroney: “He said, ‘Ticket em,’ and I said, ‘Ticket me? Because I didn’t hear you call out for me?’ And he goes, ‘Yep, you’re being ticketed.’”

Matthew is an attorney and decided to fight the ticket. He told his side. The hearing officer’s conclusion?

Matthew Zifroney: “And she said, ‘Thank you. I’m confirming the ticket.’ And I said, ‘You’re confirming the ticket? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ ‘Sir, I’m confirming the ticket.’”

As we watched the hearings again and again, we saw people who got citations for unloading luggage at the curb. Listen to the hearing officer’s conclusion.

Woman: “I was taking my mother’s suitcase out of the car, back of the car and dragging it to the curb.”

Hearing officer: “You cannot leave the vehicle, even by one foot, to take it inside. OK?”

One foot out of the car, even though an ordinance does allow “loading or unloading of passengers or luggage.”

Howard’s conclusion?

Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “The code seems to indicate that the officers and hearing officers are wrong and misinterpreting the code, because you have a right to take passengers and the luggage to the curb.”

Last week, I emailed the hearing officer. She didn’t respond.

BSO said they only ticket abandoned cars, but Matthew said he was 10 feet from his car when he got the violation for abandoning the vehicle.

Matthew Zifroney: “A lot of people out there that are going to do what I did, that are doing nothing wrong, and they’re going to get tickets. I’m hoping that by me speaking out, we put a stop to that.”

We will see, Matthew. And from the “Only in South Florida,” meet Richard, who unfortunately has a problem with a Miami Police officer.

Richard Garcia: “My daughter said he just fell and went to the ground next to the pool table.”

The Garcias had called 911. Police and fire rescue responded. In their house, they have a pool table in a room you step into.

The officer, Miguel Angel Mercado, said he hurt his wrist when he fell on the floor.

Richard Garcia: “No, it didn’t look serious, it didn’t look serious. I mean, he was fine. He was doing everything else.”

But the officer is suing the Garcia family for over $100,000. Howard says he will lose, because the sunken living room is easy to see, but the court battle is the real pain to Richard.

Richard Garcia: “I felt kind of betrayed. I mean, you call rescue in the City of Miami to come to your house, and they turn around and they sue you because they weren’t paying attention?”

Speaking of feeling betrayed, Denny can sympathize.

Denny Dorcey: “It’s like having a bomb dropped on me. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Denny lives in Oakland Park and was notified the city was fining him $1,097,400 for violations that occurred before he bought his house.

Denny Dorcey: “Petty things like overgrown weeds, trashing the carport.”

The city waited 10 years to notify Denny about the prior owners’ violations, allowing the fines to grow $1 million-plus.

Denny Dorcey: “Devastating, wiped out. I felt like I was dead, but I was still alive.”

We contacted the city, pointed out that since Denny bought the house in foreclosure, that wiped out the lien and the fines.

The city agreed, and the $1 million penalty was eliminated.

Denny Dorcey: “Without you guys, they would have destroyed my life completely. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Denny can restore cars, cabinets, you name it. We restored his faith in people.

Denny Dorcey: “Thank God. Thanks to you — Howard, Channel 7 News and Help Me Howard, man. You guys are like my guardian angels.”

Thank you, Denny, but I think the only person who called us holy was looking at our jeans.

Since Denny’s story aired, we have heard from more people in Oakland who said they got letters claiming they owed enormous sums of money for old violations. It’s not going to be a merry Christmas for a lot of Oakland Park homeowners.

Dealing with some bad luggage? Need somebody to police things for you? Don’t sue. Contact us. We don’t have a million ways to help you, but we only need one.

With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.

CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN

Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The transfer portal continues to generate moves in the NCAAF, even now during crucial moments for the season’s conclusion. The Texas Longhorns, led by Steve Sarkisian, surprisingly lost one of their WRs this fall, who was a key piece alongside Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. All signs point to his destination finally being Gainesville, where he would join Billy Napier’s Florida Gators.

Johntay Cook arrived at Texas in 2023 from DeSoto High School and, during his time with the Longhorns, became an important player on the offense. However, surprisingly, he decided to leave the program and, after several meetings, could end up with the Gators to help DJ Lagway have a great campaign next season.

The news was reported by Pete Nakos on On3’s, who made it clear that while nothing is confirmed, all signs point to Cook continuing in the SEC next year, specifically wearing the Florida Gators’ jersey.

“Coming off trips to Florida and Washington, the momentum sits with the Gators as Johntay Cook was able to spend one-on-one time with true freshman star DJ Lagway,” Nakos said. “I’ve logged a prediction for Cook to land in Gainesville.”

Cook ends his Longhorns career with just 16 catches for 273 yards and two touchdowns across two seasons. If his move to the Gators is confirmed, the WR will face his former team on October 4, 2025, in Gainesville.

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Sarkisian doesn’t want to repeat mistakes in the matchup against Arizona State

On January 1st, the team lead by Quinn Ewers will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in a Peach Bowl matchup. In this high-stakes game, head coach Steve Sarkisian knows they must minimize the margin for error following their recent games against Georgia and Clemson.

“We had a real come to Jesus meeting after the SEC Championship game when we essentially lost that game because of the penalties,” Sarkisian said to the press. “We just said we’re not going to do that anymore, and we’re going to play as clean football as we can play, as fundamentally-sound football as we can play. Still be aggressive. We never want to lose our stinger, we never want to lose our aggressiveness, but we can play smarter.“

“I critiqued one of the penalties that we got today, you can’t hit the quarterback late, and that was one of our two penalties Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “So we are continually trying to preach playing smarter football as well as playing hard and playing tough and playing physical. But quite frankly, that just came out of a come to Jesus meeting coming out of the SEC championship game.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during the first half of the college football game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns on November 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during the first half of the college football game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns on November 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.

Zac Swanson seeks redemption against the Horns

When the Longhorns face the Sun Devils on January 1st, they will see many familiar faces on the opposing team. One of them is none other than Zac Swanson, who once wore the Texas colors and left the program under unfavorable circumstances.

When asked about the situation where Swanson will face his former team, he didn’t hold back in his response: “That’s my dream…That’s a team that kicked me out,” Swanson said. “They said if you want to stay at Texas, you might as well quit football and just go to school here. So, a lot of motivation there for me.”

Rather than wanting to confront, Sarkisian spoke to the press and expressed his happiness that his former players could be part of this great game: “For them to be in the quarterfinals of the CFP, I’m really happy for those guys,” Sarkisian said. “Our players were talking about it today, so and so, you know that name started popping up again today. I do think that’s the era of college football where we’re at now.”

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
As South Florida won the Hawaii Bowl by a hair.

As much of the nation’s children were sleeping with dreams of Santa, the Bulls were winning one of the wildest games of bowl season, a five-overtime, 41-39 thriller over San José State in the Hawaii Bowl. It was the NCAA’s first bowl or postseason game to go more than three overtimes.

The game nearly ended in a back-and-forth regulation, however, as South Florida got the ball back with less than a minute left and down by three points. A good punt return and pair of first downs got them into field goal territory, at which point kicker John Cannon got a charitable bounce to tie the game.

Overtime then developed into a classic college football shootout, with the teams exchanging touchdowns, then field goals, then two-point conversions, then failed two-point conversions. With each set of plays, the game inched toward midnight ET, until it was finally Christmas for much of the country.

The game ended a half-hour later, when USF converted its two-point attempt and got the stop it needed.

USF got the win despite being outgained 441-291 and gaining only 1.6 yards per rush. Its biggest plays came on special teams and defense, including a 93-yard kick return touchdown by Ta’Ron Keith. USF quarterback Bryce Archie finished 24-of-34 with 235 passing yards and an interception.

It was the kind of game designed for the people who want to spend the final hours of Christmas Eve cheering for a tug-of-war between two Group of 5 programs. The win gives South Florida back-to-back winning seasons and bowl wins, having gone 7-6 last year with a win in the Boca Raton Bowl.