"Ira Leesfield"

Published on: May 7, 2025

More Than 30 People Rescued off Miami Beach Over the Weekend After $4 M Lamborghini Yacht Sank.

More than 30 people were rescued Saturday from the waters off Miami Beach after a multi-million-dollar yacht began taking on water, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Emergency responders were called around 5 p.m. near Monument Island, and 32 people were rescued, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. No injuries were reported.

Photos of the incident showed the assemblage of people, some with life jackets and others without, gathered on the vessel’s bow. Other photos showed the vessel partly submerged with mainly the bow peeking above the water.

Published on: April 30, 2025

Leesfield & Partners Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Woman injured in Seven-Car-Pileup.

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners, a Miami personal injury law firm, filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of a woman who was left as an incomplete quadriplegic following a Lake County tractor-trailer crash involving a Florida Highway Patrolman.

On Feb. 22, 2025, our client was traveling with her family to Orlando, Florida, when their car was rear-ended by a 53,000-pound tractor-trailer.

In all, there were seven cars involved in the crash, including that of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. In addition to our client, several others involved in the crash were taken to the hospital for treatment. The trooper, however, was not injured.

Published on: April 30, 2025

One Dead, Several Injured Following Hit-And-Run with Clearwater Ferry Boat

By Leesfield & Partners

A ferry with about 45 people on board was ushering families to and from a sand sculpting competition in Clearwater, Florida, on Sunday when it was involved in a terrible hit-and-run crash.

The incident happened around 8:40 p.m. near the Clearwater memorial Causeway Bridge. Another boat came barreling toward the ferry and ignored a crew member’s desperate shouts, witnesses told reporters with CNN.

Good Samaritans with their own boats helped evacuate passengers from the “chaotic scene,” CNN reported Monday. Following the crash, the back of the boat appeared “shattered” and there was a “huge dent,” witnesses said.

Published on: April 30, 2025

Five people Hospitalized After North Miami Beach Boat Crash, Officials Say

By Leesfield & Partners

Five people have been hospitalized, including three children, after a boat collided with a docked vessel Saturday night in North Miami Beach.

The incident happened before 8 p.m. near Maule Lake and was caught on surveillance footage, according to reporting from Channel 10 News. A boat operator with seven passengers struck a docked boat. Everyone on board was ejected.

Good Samaritans rushed to help get people out of the water before first responders arrived, witnesses told local media.

Published on: April 18, 2025

Golf Cart Driver in Tampa Killed After Driver Takes Red Light, FHP says. How Leesfield & Partners has Represented Victims and Families for 48 Years.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 71-year-old golf cart driver died following a crash at a senior living community in which another driver took the red light, according to officials with the Florida Highway Patrol.

The woman died from her injuries around 8 a.m. Wednesday near Sun City Center, a 55+ community with chains in other states such as South Carolina, Texas, Nevada, Georgia and more. The woman had the green light when she was crossing Sun City Center Boulevard, a six-lane road, in a Yamaha golf cart.

A 31-year-old driver in a Ramp ProMaster van did not stop at the red light and hit the woman, causing a fatal T-bone accident, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Published on: April 18, 2025

Bus Driver Involved in Fatal Miami Gardens Shooting. What to Know About Violence on Public Transit.

By Leesfield & Partners

A bus driver accused in the shooting deaths of two passengers following an argument should never have had a gun on board the day of the incident, officials say.

“Transit operators are not allowed to be armed,” Juan Mendieta, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, told reporters with The Miami Herald.

This rule prohibits drivers from taking firearms with them to work even if they are legally allowed to carry them, reporters said in the article.

Published on: March 17, 2025

Elderly Rhode Island Man Accused of Sexually Abusing Minor at Florida Resort.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 72-year-old from Rhode Island has been accused of sexually abusing a child in a lazy river at an Orlando, Florida, resort, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

William Francis Chatel faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years of age.

The first incident happened on March 9 when the girl said a man, later identified by police as Chattel, came up to the child and assaulted her at least twice over the course of her family’s stay at the resort, reporters said in the article. The child later reported the incidents to a parent who allegedly filmed him attempting to swim up to two other unaccompanied children in the lazy river.

Published on: March 17, 2025

Miami ‘BusPatrol’ Citations Cause Controversy Following Thousands of Citations. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A program meant to enforce school bus laws was met with outrage from thousands of drivers who were issued citations and prompted a response from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

As of Friday, March 7, the program was suspended for citations given to those who passed school buses on roads with a median, according to a statement from Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, who took office in January 2025.

“When I became Sheriff, I ordered a review of the program,” Cordero Stutz said in the post Tuesday, March 11 via X. “The review led to me announcing last Friday the suspension of median enforcement citations.”

Published on: March 13, 2025

Field Near Miramar Elementary School Inadvertently Becomes Landing Strip for Small Plane. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A small plane crash-landed in an emergency at a field near an elementary school in Miramar Wednesday, according to WSVN in Miami.

The incident happened just after 1 p.m. near Coconut Palm Elementary School. Two people were on board but were not injured. While the plane did sustain some damage, the school’s property did not.

The school did not go on lockdown when the aircraft – a Piper PA-28, a plane typically used for flight training, air taxi and personal use – landed.

Published on: March 13, 2025

Elementary School Substitute Sicks Mob of Children on Classmate in Florida, Now She Faces Criminal Charges.

By Leesfield & Partners

A substitute teacher is accused of asking multiple students in her elementary school’s classroom to hit another child, then allowing the beating to take place.

Geanene Che’rrie White, 57, was charged March 1 with one count of child abuse and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. White’s child abuse charge is a third-degree felony that, if convicted, could result in a five-year prison sentence and/or a $5,000 fine. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor is a first-degree misdemeanor that can carry a penalty of up to one year in jail, a year of probation and/or a $1,000 fine.

The incident happened while White was subbing for a class at YMCA Tiger Academy, an elementary school in Jacksonville, Florida, on Feb. 12. As she was asking the class to separate into small groups to complete their work, one student did not cooperate.