Your Florida Daily: Medical examiner’s investigator accused of stealing credit card info from the dead

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Broward Medical Examiner’s Office investigator is in trouble with the law, accused of stealing the credit card information of a dead person and using it to swipe $450.

According to an arrest warrant, 38-year-old Darrell Reid worked for the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office documenting scenes by taking photographs.

The records show Reid was called to a home in Coral Springs last October where a man had been dead for more than two weeks.

Three days after the man’s body was discovered, his daughter reported some suspicious activity happening on her father’s account.

Two payments of $150 were made to a CashApp account belonging to Reid and another $150 payment to his girlfriend, according to the arrest report.

Investigators said they looked at Reid’s CashApp account and found 25 debit and credit cards as payment sources with some linked to other people who recently died in Broward County.

Coral Springs police also linked his account to the credit card of a man who died in New York City in 2022 when Reid was an investigator for the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.

Reid resigned just a few days after he was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal use of a dead person’s ID and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card.

Each charge carries a maximum prison term of five years.

Florida lawmakers want to make constitutional amendments harder to pass

Florida lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal making it harder to pass amendments to the state constitution.

A house panel approved the measure on Tuesday.

If it becomes law, proposed amendments would need two-thirds support from voters to pass instead of the current minimum of 60%.

Supporters of the change argue it’s too easy to change the constitution but critics say the measure is a way of stifling the voice of the people.

“I can’t think of a better way to protect our Constitution than to raise the bar,” said State Rep. Rick Roth, R-West Palm Beach.

Democrats have a different take.

“It is the content of some of these amendments that certain members of this body don’t like, and that’s why we are making it more difficult,” said State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee.

The legislature does not have the final say on this. The issue will be on the November ballot and if approved in Tallahassee would need 60% support to take effect.

Universal Orlando unveils Epic Universe theme park

Universal Orlando giving us a first look of its newest park, Epic Universe, set to open in 2025.

The park will include brand new hotels, various thrill rides and themed lands such as Super Nintendo World and “How to Train Your Dragon” – Isle of Berk.

News 6 spoke to theme park expert Dr. Duncan Dickson who says the new park is expected to bring in hundreds more high-paying jobs and tourists to Central Florida.

“Every theme park that opens, adds to the luster of the town and the size and the expanse of Epic — they are going to be able to hold a lot of people there,” said Dr. Dickson.

Universal Orlando made the announcement back in 2019, though the pandemic did put some of the construction of Epic Universe behind.

Random Florida Fact

Today marks 66 years since the first satellite was successfully launched by the United States, lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

Explorer 1 was launched in response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, setting off the U.S. Space Age.