HIALEAH, Fla. – A woman convicted of multiple felonies for scamming thousands of dollars from prospective Miami apartment renters is now in even more serious trouble — this time in Hialeah.

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Local 10 News first reported on Valerie Meza-Faublack in 2022, when she donned the alter ego “Hamanda” and lied to multiple would-be renters about the availability of a Little Havana apartment so she could steal thousands in security deposits.

Now, the 23-year-old is accused of lying about being raped and firing more than a dozen gunshots at the man she claimed did it — all while on probation for the scamming spree.

Meza-Faublack, of Hollywood, is now facing charges including armed robbery and attempted murder following her arrest on Wednesday.

According to the Hialeah Police Department, officers responded to a warehouse parking lot at 490 W. 18th St. just after 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 6 for what they thought was a sexual battery and shooting investigation.

An arrest report states that Meza-Faublack claimed she met a man, originally viewed as the suspect, outside of her workplace: the Rainbow Restaurant off West Eighth Avenue.

Police said she claimed he drove her to the parking lot, where he took out a gun, forced her to pull her pants down, raped her, then “dragged her out of the driver side door by her hair” and fired shots at her while she was escaping. They said they learned the next day, however, that Meza-Faublack refused to let staff at the Roxcy Bolton Rape Treatment Center perform a rape kit on her.

Authorities said the man told them that he met Meza-Faublack, whom he didn’t know, at a bar. The report states she asked him if he wanted to leave the bar with her and he agreed.

The two went to the parking lot and undressed to have sex, he told police.

“As the victim attempted to climb into the rear passenger seat of the motor vehicle, (Meza-Faublack) unlawfully took possession of his firearm, which was in the driver compartment area, and began shooting into the vehicle where he was occupying the rear passenger seat,” the report states. “After the shooting stopped, (the) victim advised he exited the vehicle, physically retrieved the firearm from (her) and fled the scene.”

Authorities said they interviewed Meza-Faublack again on Wednesday. She claimed, police said, that she had paid the victim $20 to charge her phone in his vehicle. She said he then drove her to the parking lot, where he raped her — but not at gunpoint — then tried to rape her again. The report states she told detectives that she then convinced the man to “let her go urinate outside.”

Much of the rest of her statement was redacted, but detectives later noted that Meza-Faublack said “once she saw the victim retrieved his firearm, she ran to the front passenger side door and attempted to open it” to get her cellphone.

Detectives said they were “able to disprove” Meza-Faublack’s accounts of the incident and corroborate the victim’s account, after viewing surveillance video clips.

Police described in the report what the clips showed:

“In the videos, the defendant (Meza-Faublack) is seen exiting from the front passenger seat on her own, as she is removing her own blue jacket and opens the right-rear passenger door. The defendant then throws her jacket into the front passenger seat and left both passenger doors open. The defendant voluntarily walks around the rear of the vehicle and goes to the driver side door, where she met with the victim.

The defendant is then seen standing in between the open driver side door and the doorway for several minutes with her pants still properly on. After a brief time, the victim and the defendant enters the vehicle via the left side and all four doors are seen being closed from the occupants inside the vehicle. The defendant and the victim remained inside the vehicle for several minutes.

Shortly thereafter, the defendant exits the vehicle through the driver side door and immediately began shooting into the occupied vehicle. After the shooting, the victim is seen exiting from the left-rear passenger door and a physical struggle for the firearm from the defendants grasp ensued.

After the victim retrieved his empty firearm from the defendant, the defendant ran back to the front passenger door and attempted to open the door as the victim re-entered his vehicle. The victim ultimately fled the scene without the defendant. Investigation revealed the defendant fired 15 shots at the victim as he was inside his vehicle.”

Hialeah Police Department arrest report, spaced into separate paragraphs for readability

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Apparently, none of the 15 shots hit the man.

Authorities arrested Meza-Faublack on the aforementioned armed robbery and attempted murder charges, as well as counts of felon in possession of a firearm, shooting or throwing a deadly missile and filing a false police report. She’s pictured in her Miami-Dade mugshot bearing a lower neck tattoo reading “Love.”

Jail records show she’s being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Thursday.

The Venezuelan national also has an immigration hold.

For Miami Grand Prix president Tyler Epp, 2024 was the year which saw the event blossom into what race organisers had always hoped it would be.

A harsh spotlight had shone on the previous races at the Miami International Autodrome following its high-profile inclusion on the 2022 Formula 1 calendar but, as Lando Norris claimed his maiden victory in the sport, Epp could also afford to celebrate.

The first of three races staged across the United States in the modern era of truly global F1 coverage, Epp felt Miami truly arrived the third time around.

“We talked about how the first year was simply an exercise in trying to get it done and actually pulling it off, and getting the doors open, and getting people here and the teams here,” he explains to Autosport.

“Year two, you fix a lot of problems and you’re very focused on those things that did not go like you wanted. Then year three would be the year where you actually hit a bit of stride and you settle into some things that you’ve built, that work well, and things that maybe work a little better than you thought.

“It’s far from saying that everything is perfect, and we figured it all out. It’s not saying that in the least but it did feel a bit like year three was a time for us to stabilise a little bit and some of the creative concepts that Tom Garfinkel really came up with to launch this race started to come to life a little bit for the fanbase, I think the racetrack came to life a bit for the competitors.”

It is hard to establish an F1 legacy with a race still very much in its infancy, but Miami does have unique selling points to fans – from its high-end hospitality offerings to integrating the Hard Rock Beach Club and the buzz around the fake marina – so could these become staples of the calendar?

“We’ve got to earn that, and we know that – we’re not exactly Eau Rouge! But it gives us hope that someday some of our funky corners and parts of the racetrack will take shape from a racing perspective,” added Epp.

“Then we think there are a bit of, hopefully, iconic areas of our racetrack that we can continue to build, develop and evolve throughout the years for the fanbase, with the things that we do in the marina for example.”

While attracting a global audience remains crucial to the business of hosting a Formula 1 grand prix, Epp has also made sure the local community has not been lost within the glamour of the Miami Grand Prix, with a sprint race and F1 Academy also on the weekend schedule.

“We talk about it a lot more than people think – we’re really proud to race in Miami Gardens,” he said.

“We’re proud to put on these mega events in Miami Gardens. It has transformed the industry. It’s transformed this community and to put a billion dollars back into this greater Miami and Fort Lauderdale community over the first three years of this event is something we’re really proud of.

“But the things that we really see is the impact on young people and we were turning people from this community into race fans but even more so than that is our MIA Academy program, which identifies college-age people who have an interest in the motorsports space.

“We bring them in, and they become a part of our team. We’re now on our fourth year of it, and we’ve now sent almost 100 young people into the marketplace, and every year we’ve hired a group of those kids to come and work with us on a full-time basis. We are identifying talent in our actual community and bringing it to life, I think that is unique to us.”

Former Oregon Ducks and current Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is coming off a very successful 2024-2025 season. Nix threw for 3,777 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions en route to helping the Broncos snapping their playoff drought. 

Despite being one off the best up and coming quarterbacks in the NFL, Nix’s contract this upcoming season will be less than college quarterback Carson Beck’s NIL valuation with the Miami Hurricanes.

Nix signed a four year $18 million contract after being drafted No. 12 overall by the Broncos in the 2024 NFL Draft. The cap hit on Nix’s deal in 2024 was $3.3 million and will be $4.2 million in 2025. 

Beck on the other hand is set to make $4.4 million in 2025 with Miami per On3.

Carson Beck is set to start his sixth collegiate season when the Miami Hurricanes kick off their 2025 season. Beck was the No. 1 ranked quarterback back out of high school in the class of 2020 per 247Sports and signed with the Georgia Bulldogs. Beck was at Georgia from 2020-2024 before announcing he would be transferring and signing with the Miami Hurricanes for the 2025 season. 

Beck was the Bulldogs starting quarterback in 2023 and 2024 and threw for 52 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His 2024 season came to an end in the SEC Championship game against Texas, where he injured his UCL on his throwing arm. This is a similar injury that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffered in the 2022-2023 NFC Championship game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

Despite this injury, Miami decided that they were willing to role the dice with Beck and he is set to make over $4 million in NIL from the University of Miami collective alone. Assuming he is able to heal from his elbow injury and win the starting job in the fall, Beck will be the one following in the footsteps of Cam Ward. Ward spent his final collegiate season at Miami, throwing for 39 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Ward lead the Hurricanes to a 10-3 record and is now projected as one of the top two quarterbacks to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

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The Denver Broncos selected Bo Nix as the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nix and the Broncos had very low expectations s coming into the season, and had their over/under win total at 5.5 wins. Sean Payton and his team blew that away and went 10-7, clinching a wild card berth. 

The Broncos had not made a playoff appearance since 2015-2016, when Payton Manning was the quarterback. The Broncos season came to a close in a 31-7 loss at the Buffalo Bills over the weekend.

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