Florida man tries to steal medical helicopter waiting to transport patients after I-75 crash
Florida man tries to steal medical helicopter waiting to transport patients after I-75 crash. The KRAK 11 News hour: The World Desk, Criminal Intent, Animals, A Quick Look At Sports. Real stories from named sources, read by Chip Marlowe and Deb Sarkissian.
Aired 2026-08-20 20:48 UTC · 5 segments · 8 min · complete transcript below
Rundown
KRAK 11 NEWS
Good evening, Wexler County. This is KRAK 11 News at the top of the hour. I am Chip Marlowe.
And I am Deb Sarkissian. We have a full hour ahead. The World Desk is up first — five nations condemn Israel's latest West Bank settlement expansion.
Criminal Intent — our twenty-sixth Florida Man Tribute. Back in July of last year, someone spent eighteen months leaving nails under the tires of fire trucks.
Twenty-sixth.
I keep a spreadsheet. Animals — the bobcat is still at number five, and it gained another million views. And Sports — a record outbreak of a foodborne illness is testing what is left of the public health system.
That is Sports.
It is what came in. The World Desk is next — five countries, one statement, and Israel is not listening. Stay with us.
THE WORLD DESK
Good evening, Wexler County. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian. Tonight we're looking at a bicycle ban in Italy, a mine disaster in Colombia, and the first war crimes extradition out of Lebanon since the Assad government fell.
The bicycle story is my favorite.
I know it is.
We begin in northern Italy, where the mayor of Como has now put that bicycle ban into effect across the entire historic city centre.
This is the mayor who was hit by the bicycle.
He was. Mayor Alessandro Rapinese was struck by an electric bike last month. He called them beasts in the official statement, and the ban took effect this morning.
I respect a man who makes policy based on personal experience.
The city is on the border with Switzerland, south of the Alps. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the cobblestone streets were not built for electric bikes traveling at thirty kilometers an hour.
Como. That's the lake district.
It is. Lake Como is the third largest lake in Italy.
George Clooney has a house there.
He does. Violators of the new ban face fines starting at twenty-five euros.
In Colombia, authorities have confirmed that thirteen people are dead following a landslide at an unlicensed gold mine in the northwest of the country.
We reported earlier that the count stood at thirteen. That number has now been confirmed by local officials.
Among the dead are four members of an indigenous family. The mine was operating without a license in the Cauca department, and rescue operations are continuing.
Cauca is in the mountains.
It is. The Andes run through the western part of the department. Unlicensed mines are common in the region, and landslides are a recurring danger during the rainy season.
The Middle East now, where five European nations and Canada have jointly condemned Israel's plan to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Canada issued the statement this morning. The expansion plan involves a strategically vital corridor in the West Bank, and the statement described it as a violation of international law.
This is new pressure on the Netanyahu government.
It is. The six nations called the settlement expansion an obstacle to peace and urged Israel to halt construction immediately. No response yet from Jerusalem.
And in Syria, Lebanon has extradited a former general to face war crimes charges. This is the first extradition of a senior Assad regime officer since the government fell.
We reported earlier this week that Lebanon had handed over General Adel Issa. Syrian authorities have now confirmed the charges.
The charges include crimes against humanity during the civil war. Syria's new government has issued arrest warrants for more than two dozen former regime officials, and Lebanon has indicated it will cooperate with further extradition requests.
This is the first one.
It is. And it signals that Lebanon is willing to cooperate with the new Syrian government on accountability for the Assad years.
If you're watching on YouTube, we'd be glad if you subscribed. A station this size notices every one.
It costs nothing and it helps us keep doing this.
Still ahead tonight, Criminal Intent. A man has been charged in connection with the Manchester synagogue attack, and the charge is not what you might expect.
Police say he failed to disclose information regarding terrorist activity. That story is next on KRAK 11 News.
Stay with us.
CRIMINAL INTENT
This is Criminal Intent.
We have four stories tonight from the files. Three of them involve Florida.
Our twenty-seventh tribute.
I keep count in a spreadsheet.
Back in June of this year, a Florida man crashed his pickup truck on Interstate Seventy-Five in Hernando County after telling troopers he had just seen the anti-Christ.
A medical helicopter landed at the scene to transport patients to an area hospital.
Highway Patrol says he then attempted to steal the helicopter.
He is accused of attempting to steal it.
Correct. That is our twenty-seventh Florida Man Tribute in twenty-seven weeks.
Back in July of last year, Polk County deputies arrested a man they called the Nail Bandit after fire rescue vehicles were repeatedly sabotaged with sharp objects for more than a year and a half.
Prosecutors say the damage continued undetected until deputies connected the pattern and made the arrest.
Prosecutors allege that.
Back in April of this year, a parachutist carrying the American flag as part of a three-person skydiving team crashed into the scoreboard at Virginia Tech's spring football game.
The parachutist was treated at the scene and released. No serious injuries reported.
The scoreboard was undamaged and the game proceeded as scheduled.
Back in May of this year, the Pentagon launched a new public database on unidentified aerial phenomena. The website received three hundred forty million hits in its first twelve hours.
The release includes hundreds of documents and dozens of videos, including Apollo Eleven transcripts and reports of objects performing what the Pentagon describes as impossible aerial maneuvers.
Reports. Not confirmed sightings.
Three hundred forty million hits in twelve hours is the most traffic any Department of Defense website has ever received.
People are curious.
Still ahead on KRAK Eleven News: a golden retriever who spent seventy-two days lost in the mountains near Lake Tahoe has won this year's Hambone Award.
Animals, in a few minutes.
ANIMALS
This is Animals.
The good news desk.
I have now watched the bobcat video eleven times.
That is one more than last hour.
The bobcat video is still at number five on the KRAK 11 animal countdown. Nine consecutive days now. Six million, one hundred forty-eight thousand, one hundred thirty-one total views.
That is nearly a million new views in the last twenty-seven hours. Nine hundred ninety-six thousand, four hundred twenty-three.
YouTube's own trending chart has it at number fifteen. Our countdown ranks by how many views a video gains, not its total.
An endangered sea turtle made a five-thousand-mile journey back to Texas from Wales. She was tagged in Galveston three years ago, traveled across the Atlantic, and returned this week to the same beach.
Five thousand miles.
That is remarkable.
Scotland recorded its first confirmed sighting of a wildcat swimming. Cairngorms National Park, earlier this week. The species was thought to be functionally extinct in the wild.
First recorded sighting of one swimming.
Yes.
That is a good week for wildcats.
A quick look at sports is still ahead. We have news from the U.S. Open, and Chip has thoughts about a defender Arsenal are pursuing.
I do have thoughts.
A QUICK LOOK AT SPORTS
A quick look at sports.
You have been tracking this Cubs rookie all season.
Pete Crow-Armstrong. Twenty-two years old. Two walk-off hits this year and he just made history.
The Cubs beat the White Sox four to three in Chicago. Crow-Armstrong hit the walk-off single in the ninth and became the first Cubs rookie to record two walk-off hits in one season.
That is a season to remember.
Carlos Alcaraz returns to the U.S. Open next week after four months out with a wrist injury. He is ranked number three in the world and the tournament begins Monday in New York.
Still ahead at the top of the hour - new details on that harbor accident in New York. The next KRAK 11 News is coming up.
We will see you then.
Reporting behind this episode
- UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada condemn Israel's West Bank settlement project
- Como mayor hit by electric bike and issues blanket ban in Italian city
- Assad officer extradited to Syria on war crimes charges for first time
- Landslide at unlicensed Colombian gold mine kills 13
- Florida man dubbed 'Nail Bandit' accused of sabotaging fire rescue vehicles with sharp objects
- Florida man tries to steal medical helicopter waiting to transport patients after I-75 crash: FHP
- Parachutist carrying US flag slams into stadium scoreboard
- Pentagon UFO website shatters records with 340M hits in first 12 hours
- This Bobcat Was Stopping Every Car
- This Bobcat Was Stopping Every Car
- This Bobcat Was Stopping Every Car
- This Bobcat Was Stopping Every Car
- This Bobcat Was Stopping Every Car
- ICE arrests captain in New York Harbor boat accident that killed mother and infant