From the Neighbor's Section of The Miami Herald

Sunday, November 24, 2002

CELLPHONE IS STOLEN FROM MANUEL CABRERA'S VEHICLE AT GRAND VISTA

"A CELLPHONE valued at $160 was taken from Manuel Cabrera's gold 2002 Ford Explorer while the vehicle was parked at Grand Vista Apartments, 8851 NW 119th St., between 1 and 3 p.m. Nov. 10."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4587642.htm

BOARD PRESIDENT WHO DENIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN CRIME AT GRAND VISTA IS HIMSELF A VICTIM OF CRIME RECENTLY

During a campaign for election to obtain a seat in the Board of Directors at Grand Vista Condominiums, Mr. Manuel Carrera executed an aggressive declaration against the Special Action Group and others running for the board by attempting to discredit publications made by this Group.  Mr. Carrera informed various property owners that the article published by Mr. Eddie Hernandez was false.  In a Grand Vista newsletter, an article exposed that calls made to the police for serious crimes had increased during the period that Jose Maurelo was president due to his carelessness in keeping up with the security needs of this community.  (See article, "Reports of Crime Increase at Grand Vista")  Mr. Carrera, who was begain campaigning along-side Mr. Maurelo and the rest of the board defended Mr. Maurelo's point.  In a board meeting on October 12, 2002, Mr. Carrera had Police Lieutenant (Toth) discuss with property owners the crime conditions at Grand Vista.  Lt. Toth's report consisted of calendar year results (For example: 1/1/2000-12/31/2000.)  The article posted in the Grand Vista News consisted of electoral periods when those members of the board were presiding (For example: July 2, 2001 to July 1, 2002, the period in which Mr. Maurelo was presiding.)  Lt. Toth's report also showed that many of the phone calls made at Grand Vista had actually been dismissed based on the investigation or reclassified as a petty crime while the Group reported the actual calls made, as reported by the dispatcher.  Prior to publication of the newsletter, this Group obtained a report from the Police Department of Hialeah Gardens which listed all calls made by property owners at Grand Vista.  This committee stands behind the figures reported as being true and factual.  It is clear that the data on Lt. Toth's report and the data on this Group's report does not match, because they are not comparing the same thing.  [Reported Incidents versus Investigated Incidents]

Mr. Carrera stated that crime at Grand Vista during the period in which Jose Maurelo precided actually decreased.  Though he was unable to substantiate this statement,  less than a month later, Mr. Carrera was unfortunately himself a victim of crime at Grand Vista.  Anyone with information about Mr. Carrera's stolen cellular phone is encouraged to call Hialeah Gardens Police at (305) 558-3333.