Miami, FL
Victim speaks out about contractor accused of exploiting the elderly
MIAMI – A 72-year-old Southwest Miami-Dade man is speaking out after a contractor is busted for exploiting the elderly and taking $14,000 from him and two other victims.
Miami-Dade Police say the work was never done and say the suspect in this case has confessed that there are 9 other victims as well. Police say many of those who have been targeted are elderly.
They say 61-year-old Omar Ramiro Lopez of Palmetto Bay entered into contracts with multiple elderly victims to install outdoor fencing and claimed he was a licensed contractor with his company Horizon Structural Developers and failed to do the work and refund money to his victims and did not return their texts or phone calls.
Miami-Dade Police Detective Geordi Estepan said, “He’s pretending to be a licensed contractor when he really isn’t. He is targeting elderly victims. He is promising to do fences and takes deposits and does not do the work. He has confessed that there are 9 more victims. That is a lot of people and we believe there are even more out there.”
Lopez faces charges including an organized scheme to defraud, theft from the elderly, 3rd-degree grand theft and exploitation of the elderly.
Brian Domineck, 72, told CBS News MIami’s Peter D’Oench that he gave Lopez a $6200 deposit through 2 checks for a 300-foot chain-link fence to be built at his Southwest Miami-Dade home for $10,432 and no work was done and he has lost all of his money.
Domineck, an Air Force veteran of 11 years who retired after spending 35 years with Miami-Dade Public Schools, said he is discouraged and does not know if he will ever be able to have that chain link fence built.
Domineck said, “I paid him $6200 and checked him out online and saw he had 5 stars. When he first got to my house in May, he was talking like he was the best and would take care of everything. He had quite a scam going. He even talked to us about his family and his church. But he never did any work. He came out and did measurements and that was it. It all started in May. I even went to where his company was supposed to be. I called him and he didn’t return calls.”
Domineck said, “I feel bad. I really feel bad. It is like he used me. I really can’t afford to give away $6200. I think he really took advantage of us. I am retired. I am retired for 6 years. I wanted to do something to make a better home. Let us do that. Don’t take our money.”
Authorities urge you to check out a company’s reviews and reputation online and check sources like Florida Sun Biz.
Domineck said, “I tried my best to check up on him and I thought I did everything. I thought he was the man for the job and it just goes to show you that you never can tell.”
MIami-Dade Police believe there are other victims.
If you are one of them, contact their Economic Crimes Unit at (305) 994-1000.
The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.
While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.
Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.
Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.
The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.
In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings.
On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year.
Here’s a closer look at the market:
Miami Beach and the barrier islands
Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024.
Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119.
Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.
Coastal mainland
Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings.
The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000.
The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle.
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