Tropical Storm Danny continued to weaken Monday and was poised to bring winds and rainfall to parts of the Southern Leeward Islands and NE Caribbean.

The center of the storm was located about 60 miles east-northeast of Dominica early Monday morning. It was moving toward the west at 9 mph. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it would move to west-northwest through Tuesday.

Danny is expected to move across the Southern Leeward Islands Monday and move into NE Caribbean Sea by the evening. 

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Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 kph) and forecasters said Danny was expected to weaken into a tropical depression Monday.

The hurricane center said tropical-storm-force winds were expected to affect Guadeloupe and nearby islands. Danny was forecast to produce 2 inches to 4 inches of rain over the Leeward Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Tuesday.

Forecasters said the storm would be a tropical depression when it reached Puerto Rico, bringing little relief to the drought-stricken U.S. territory.

Nearly 25 percent of Puerto Rico is considered to be in an extreme drought, and another 45 percent is under a severe one, according to The National Drought Mitigation Center. A total of 2.9 million people in Puerto Rico have been affected, and U.S. officials have declared at least 20 of the island's 78 municipalities as disaster zones.

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp said officials had opened shelters as a precaution.

The approaching storm forced Antigua-based airline LIAT to cancel nearly 40 flights from Sunday to Tuesday, and officials with regional carrier Seaborne Airlines also warned of delays and cancelations. Several cruise ships scheduled to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands have canceled or delayed their trips.

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Whether you fancy a dip in a sinkhole, a cave or a cliff-side cranny, TripAdvisor's latest list of the world's best natural pools should have you covered.

Police continue to search for the burglar or burglars who broke into a Miami-Dade County home last month and stole about $12,000 worth of jewelry.

The burglary was reported about 9:30 a.m. July 23 at a home in the area of SW 15th Street and 94th Avenue.

Police said the homeowner arrived at his house to find his front door open and the jewelry missing.

Police said surveillance video showed what appeared to be a Ford Focus in the area at the time of the burglary.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

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Police identified Monday the five men who were arrested in connection with an international burglary ring that netted about $4 million in stolen property. 

For two years, the ring targeted luxury condominiums along the waterway from Juno Beach to Miami, police said. Some of their victims were not insured and say they have lost irreplaceable items of high sentimental value, police said.

The suspects -- who were linked to at least 30 robberies -- were Eduardo Jose Martinez, Carlos Raul De Pablos Mazzelli, Alberto Jose Colmenares Machado, Wilmer Jose Rojas Gamboa and Andres Rojas Solano.

They "have been in and out of the U.S.," Bay Harbor Islands Police Department officer Jill Dellerson said.

Two of the five were residents of Venezuela, police said. Authorities were still looking for one suspect.

Venezuelan records show an Alberto Jose Colmenares Machado was identified as a businessman and had a criminal case in Aragua in 2008.  A Linkedin account identified a Wilmer Jose Paul Gamboa as a resident of Venezuela and an employee at Saniconsult.

Police "arrested two suspects while a burglary was in progress in the city of Key Biscayne," Bay Harbor Islands Police Department's John Grimes said. The burglars took safes, police said.

Investigators have surveillance video and hours of undercover work, Grimes said.

The task force involved in uncovering the burglary ring included 17 law enforcement agencies. They met at Broward's Sheriff's Office headquarters Aug. 13, Dellerson said.

After the suspects arrived from Venezuela Aug. 14, authorities kept them under surveillance. Authorities caught up to three of the suspects, while they were committing a burglary in Key Biscayne Aug. 21. The other two were arrested Saturday at Miami International Airport.

MULTI-AGENCY TASK FORCE The police departments included Bay Harbor Island, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, Miami-Dade Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Hillsboro, Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Del Ray and Dural.  The Miami-Dade Airport general investigation units, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations were also involved. Prosecutors from the Florida Attorney General's office worked with the Miami-Dade and Broward State Attorney's Office.

Martinez was charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling.

De Pablos Mazzelli was charged with grand theft and three counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Colmenares Machado was facing three counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and possession of tools used in a burglary.

Rojas Gamboa was charged with grand theft and two counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Rojas Solano was charged with two counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling and one count of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Follow Local10.com reporter Andrea Torres on Twitter @MiamiCrime

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A Miami man wanted in connection with the 2013 murder of his caregiver was arrested in Connecticut by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

Danei Washington Gordon, 21, was arrested last Wednesday on a second-degree murder charge.

According to Miami-Dade police, Neville Smith, 73, was found April 5, 2013, in a pool of blood on his bathroom floor with obvious trauma to his head and face.

Another man, identified as Everton Blake, returned to the home from work, found Smith and called 911.

Investigators said Blake claimed that he had left for work at 9:45 a.m. and said the only people who were in the home while he was away were Smith and Gordon.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gordon on July 1, 2013.

Investigators said Gordon is suspected of using a metal cooking pot to bludgeon Smith in the kitchen.

Police said Gordon, who is a Jamaican national, had been staying at the home with Smith.

Investigators believed that he fled South Florida before the arrest warrant was issued.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Gordon was hiding in the Hartford, Connecticut, area, which has a large Jamaican population.

Authorities said deputy marshals spotted Gordon riding a bicycle and identified him from a music clef tattooed on his right hand. He also has a "Danei" tattoo on his body.

Gordon does not have a previous criminal history in the U.S.

He was taken to the Hartford Correctional Facility and is awaiting extradition to Miami.

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Video taken by a motorcyclist helped confirm witnesses' statements about what led up to a fatal traffic accident last Wednesday.

Pembroke Pines police said the video shows Sameh Adams, 51, who was on his motorcycle at about 10:30 p.m., running a red light and passing a police officer who was responding to a separate motorcycle crash.

The video then showed the rider who had his camera on arriving at the scene of the crash in the 6800 block of Pines Boulevard, where Adams was lying in the road.

Adams was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he died.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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A man accused of murdering a Coral Gables jogger in 2007 was found guilty Monday.

Kendrick Silver is convicted in the shooting death of Jose Marchese-Berrios.

Police said Silver and his partner-in-crime, Oniel Pedley, who is already facing a life sentence, killed Marchese-Berrios as they went on a violent crime spree throughout South Florida.

Prosecutors said Silver was the person who pulled the trigger.

Silver could face the death penalty when he is sentenced.

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Richard Felker of Pembroke Pines said he's been the victim of identity theft not just once, but twice.

"Goodness, each time this happened I spent a good hour and a half to two hours going through the procedure to get it stopped. At the end, I had 11 cards compromised," Felker said.

Felker never lost his credit cards or wallet. He believes thieves changed his mailing address at the post office. 

"My bills that come to me, directly addressed to me, stopped coming," Felker said. 

Florida holds the country's top spot for ID theft; a complaint category that for the past 15 years has led the Federal Trade Commission's list of complaints.

The threat is not restricted to credit cards. Hackers can wreak havoc, so Local 10 News investigative reporter Christina Vazquez gathered some advice on what, if anything, can be done to keep information safe.

Click here  to view the FTC report on 2014 Identity theft statistics.

"It's a big problem and there's a whole world of victims out there that may not even know it," consumer protection attorney Jason Weaver said. 

That's because thieves can steal your identity and hijack your credit without having your physical credit card.  E-mail, phone, and mail are ways thieves make contact with their victims.

Cyber data breeches, like the one recently reported at the IRS, demonstrate how quickly our personal information can be hijacked and exposed to identity thieves.

"It can devastate your credit score immediately," Weaver said. 

WEB EXTRA: Consumer protection attorney Jason Weaver on identity theft

But there's things Weaver said you can do to protect yourself:

1. Monitor your credit and get a copy of your credit report every year.  It's free. 

2. Give your credit card information over the phone only to larger companies that you trust.

3. Watch for ATM shoulder surfers and stick to bank ATM's.  Avoid portable ones like those that pop up at conventions or carnivals, as they are popular targets for ID thieves armed with card readers.

4. Don't click on links in emails from people or companies you don't know.

5. Check the URL and contact the company directly to confirm any advertised give-aways or prizes.

"Consumers who are victims of identity theft have to remember that they have got a two part problem. The first is their credit and getting it off their credit report.  And the second is contacting these people who say the consumer owes them money.  You need to tell them this isn't my debt," Weaver said.

Follow Christina Vazquez on Twitter@CallChristinaTV

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Puerto Rico may be known as "La Isla del Encanto," or the "Island of Enchantment," but it has definitely seen better days.

The island is at a crossroads in its history. Its economy is in flux, with a government that claims it is unable to pay its debt, and it's experiencing a drought that the island has not seen in a quarter century.

More than 50,000 Puerto Ricans come stateside each year in an effort to escape the island's problems.

In early August, the U.S. commonwealth missed a payment on its $72 billion in bonds, a default more than a decade in the making.

The governor has all but waved a white flag, stating that unless creditors come to the table, the money just isn't there to pay them.

The government is the biggest employer on the island, and it owes public workers an estimated $40 billion in unfunded retirement benefits.           

"It's not easy working hard to make an honest wage and provide for your family," city worker, Derrick Hernandez, said. "The last few years have been difficult."

How the island climbs out of the abyss is adding to the anxiety. The sales tax stands at 11.5 percent, making it the highest in the U.S. when compared to any state.

Lawmakers also want $674 million in budget cuts and have proposed closing 100 schools and getting rid of 20 agencies.

The governor has called for an exemption from the federal minimum wage and lowering welfare payments. There's also talk of across-the-board tax increases and cuts to pensions.

"We cannot tax our way out of this fiscal situation we are facing," Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi said. "We must grow out of it. In the meantime, we need to cut expenses in government."

Pierluisi is the lone voice Puerto Rico has in Congress -- a seat on Capitol Hill that comes without a vote.

He has called on Congress to allow the government to declare bankruptcy on public utilities that make up a third of the island's debt –a legal route only afforded to states.

"It would allow entities like the power authority, (and) the water and sewer authority to re-organize themselves under the protection of federal bankruptcy courts. It would be an orderly process to handle debt payments," Pierluisi said.

Puerto Rico also has to answer a looming question: should it become a state?  In 2012, voters took the first step in saying yes.

Pierluisi said he'll campaign on a referendum for statehood when he takes on governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla next fall.

"Once I become governor, I will be doing that. That's what was done in Hawaii and Alaska before they became states. You want a majority of people saying they want to be admitted to the union," Pierluisi said. "We're losing populations and that hits home because you're talking about relatives, friends and neighbors leaving Puerto Rico for better opportunities, and they can find them overnight in states like Florida."

The next test for the island comes at the end of the month, which is when Garcia Padilla said he hopes to have a fiscal plan in place to restructure the island's debt.

A two-alarm fire burned at a vacant home in Pinecrest early Tuesday morning, and now the fire is being called suspicious.

The fire started at the home on SW 94th Street and Ludlam Road with multiple units responding around 2 a.m. A witness’ video sent to Local 10 showed the flames from blocks away with crews on scene.

“The biggest challenge we had when we arrive was access,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Batallion Chief David Reardon said. “We had to force open the gates to get our hose lines in. Once the roof came down, we brought everyone out of the structure and made it defensive in nature.”

Hot spots are being monitored as the cause of the fire is investigated.

Stay with Local 10 and Local10.com for any updates.

Fort Lauderdale firefighters worked before sunrise Tuesday morning to control the flames of a house fire in Wilton Manors.

A spokesperson with the department said the fire started in the garage sometime before 6 a.m. and quickly spread to the kitchen, causing extensive damage to the house on Northeast 17th Avenue & 24th Street. 

The family who lives at the home escaped the flames without injury, but according to the spokesperson, they require the assistance of the Red Cross.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

According to the spokesperson, Fort Lauderdale has had a contract for 15 years to fight fires in Wilton Manors.

China's main stock market index has fallen for a fourth day, bringing other indexes with it.

The Shanghai composite index declined 7.6 percent to an eight-month low, while the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed down 3.9 percent, according to the Associated Press and USA Today.

On Monday, China's benchmark plummeted 8.5 percent, triggering a wave of major stock markets losses worldwide, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 3.6 percent.

Chinese stocks have plunged over the last two weeks despite a multibillion-dollar government effort to stop a slide in prices.

On the same day that Tropical Storm Danny degenerated into a remnant low, another tropical storm has formed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Tropical Storm Erika formed in the mid-Atlantic late Monday night and was forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane, possibly by the weekend.

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The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Erika was traveling west at 20 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It was located about 840 miles east of the Leeward Islands as of 5 a.m.

"It's one we all need to monitor," Local 10 News meteorologist Julie Durda said, as the forecast brings Erika "very close to home here in South Florida."

Erika's forecast track has the storm moving west-northwest toward the Leeward Islands by Wednesday and then on to Puerto Rico. It is expected to become a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday morning as it moves near the Bahamas. 

Durda said many of the computer models diverge as to where Erika will go by the end of the week.

Puerto Rico, most of Hispaniola and portions of Cuba and the Bahamas are within the cone of uncertainty.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Leeward Islands.

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August 26 is National Dog Day and Local 10 News is celebrating with photos of your dogs! Send yours to Share@Local10.com. 

Detectives are searching for a man who shot at a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy Tuesday morning while she was driving home from work in West Palm Beach.

West Palm Beach police Detective Lori Colombino said Detective Elisa Galindez spotted a car stopped in the middle of the exit ramp on northbound Interstate 95 at Southern Boulevard and, believing the car was disabled, pulled over in an attempt to help the driver.

Colombino said an armed man got out of the car and fired at Galindez, who was not wearing her uniform.

Colombino said Galindez fired back, called 911 and drove just east of the incident to Southern Boulevard and Flagler Drive.

According to Colombino, a single bullet hole in the window of Galindez's vehicle came from her own gun.

The veteran BSO detective works in the Special Victims Unit, dealing with sex crimes, and lives in Palm Beach County. She has worked for the BSO since January 2004.

The gunman's car is described as an older-model four-door white sedan with dark tint.

Colombino said two men were inside the car.

Authorities believe the incident could have been the result of an attempted carjacking.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Andrea Branch at 561-822-1691.

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A man who was playing dominoes with friends was shot and killed Tuesday, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called to the shooting after 4 p.m. Tuesday in the front courtyard of a home in the 600 block of Northwest Fifth Avenue.

Detectives said as Patrick Jean, 31, played dominoes with friends in the courtyard of the home, a vehicle pulled up and some men who were known to the victim got out.

There was a dispute, and one of the men from the vehicle pulled out a gun and began firing, deputies said.

Witnesses told deputies that Jean had been shot and that friends had rushed him to Broward Health North Medical Center.

Jean was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later, deputies said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Zach Scott at 954-321-4210. Tipsters can report anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers of Broward County at 954-493-TIPS (8477). Deputies said Crime Stoppers will pay up to $3,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

Family, friends and loved ones are raising money to transport an injured University of South Florida student to Jackson Memorial Hospital. 

"It's disturbing to know that she's not here right now," said Barbara Jimenez's sister, Caridad. 

The 22-year-old is recovering from a coma in a hospital in Havana, Cuba, after a car crash earlier this month. The crash left a taxi driver dead and Jimenez's aunt and cousin in a coma.

Jimenez's boyfriend, John Fox, was airlifted to JMH after the crash. His condition has not been released.

Jimenez was visiting family on the island at the time.

"She wasn't conscious and was on a feeding tube," said Caridad Jimenez. 

The USF student does not have health insurance. The family has set up a Go Fund Me account to raise money for an air ambulance flight to South Florida. 

Click here to donate to her family's efforts to get her home.

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Police are asking for the public's help in finding a man accused of stealing an exotic plant from the porch of a home.

The theft happened at 7:10 a.m. Aug. 14 at a home in the 1300 block of Southwest 21st Terrace.

The man walked onto the front porch of the victim's home and stole an exotic plant valued at $200, Miami police said.

Police are looking for a man described as white, 50 to 60 years of age and weighing 160 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Miami Police Department's Burglary Unit at 305-603-6030. Police said tipsters with information who wish to remain anonymous can call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).

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The director of tourism says they hope to travel to Cuba in the coming months. The mission trips would include meetings with hotel companies in Havana that cater to European travelers.

Puerto Rico's bright spot is a booming tourism industry. Tourists contribute an estimated $7 billion a year to the economy with more than 3 million people visiting every year.

As the government figures out how to get its fiscal house in order, vacationers are spending more time and more money visiting La Isla del Encanto.

"It's natural to perhaps to become a little concerned, but when they read that the experience in Puerto Rico hasn't been touched, hasn't been in any way or form diminished, they understand that this is a tremendous destination," said Milton Segarra, president and CEO of Meet Puerto Rico.

Tourism experts said the weather forecast tops the economic outlook when companies decide to hold annual conventions in San Juan. In August and September alone, more than 30 groups booked 23,000 hotel rooms.

The island also boasts the largest convention center in the Caribbean.

"If you take a cruise in the Caribbean, you're all but guaranteed a few hours in San Juan, where all you need is your driver's license to clear the port," Segarra said.

Sixteen cruiselines in all bring an estimated 1.5 million passengers to the island yearly.

"Every year, we contribute $100 million to $150 million in our economy. For every $17 we invest in sales and marketing, we generate $561 to the local economy," Segarra said.

A recent increase in sales and resort taxes means tourists are paying more to visit, but few seem to mind.

"I think the island is beautiful," tourist Joshua Tabia said of his first visit. "It's been great to visit different stores and the culture. When you walk around and see people talking and playing music, you feel at home."

There are signs of the troubled economy in the heart of El Viejo San Juan. For sale signs hang on retail space nestled between the port and the historic "El Morro," but the recent U.S.-Cuba reset is a source of optimism on the island.

Tourism experts said they're eager to attract European travelers who have long visited Cuba. They're also excited at the possibility of partnering with Havana on marketing campaigns.

"I see it as a great opportunity for Puerto Rico," said Ingrid Rocafort, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. "The island knows very it the American visitor and we have that experience as a great destination for the East Coast. We see it as an opportunity to be able to work with Cuba and help them with the infrastructure process being partners in that development."

The biggest draw for U.S. tourists remains how easy it is to visit Puerto Rico. Travelers said leaving the passport at home and being able to use the dollar makes it an all too easy trip to take.

"I wouldn't say Havana is ready or mature to visit yet, but is the appetite there to go? Um, I wouldn't say just yet. Maybe in the next two to three years," Tabia said.

Tourism experts said similar to South Florida, the weather and beaches will still draw crowds, and they're banking on big hotel names including the Hilton and Four Seasons opening new locations in the coming months.

A woman accused of disfiguring a man's penis with injectables to make it bigger was arrested Monday in Miami-Dade County.

Nery Carvajal-Gonzalez, 48, faces one count of unlicensed practice of health care causing serious injury and two counts of practicing medicine without a license.

Gonzalez appeared Tuesday morning in bond court where she was granted a $100,000 bond. She will be placed on house arrest if she bonds out.

Authorities said she was arrested after returning to Miami from Colombia Monday night, where she allegedly fled to after the procedure.

"The state was going to show photos to the court, but that would only embarrass the victim and disgust the court," prosecutor Warren Eth said. "The court would not be able to unsee the images."

According to court documents, the victim met Gonzalez after she came into the hair salon where he worked and offered injectable services.

Investigators said the 55-year-old victim received facials from Gonzalez and eventually entrusted her to inject fillers into his penis at a Hialeah warehouse to make it longer and thicker. The victim said the procedure severely disfigured his penis, and said future attempts to contact Gonzalez were unsuccessful.

"Reads like a horror script.  It's almost unbelievable that a human being can voluntary do this to another human being. Not once, not twice. This was not an isolated incident. She solicits business and butchers people," Eth said.

Mark Schreiber, 60, of Tamarac, was arrested earlier this month on a charge of unlicensed practice of health care causing serious injury.

Investigators said the victim met Schreiber, who had his medical license pulled years ago and was recommended by Gonzalez, in the same Hialeah warehouse to remove the filler that was injected by Gonzalez.

"To be honest, it looked professional," the victim told Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg. "I kind of trusted it for a while and I was trying to solve a problem. If I go to a professional doctor, it would cost me a lot of money to repair, and I didn't have the money."

According to investigators, the filler was never removed. The patient claims that his penis was further mutilated by Schreiber and that he is unable to function sexually.

"There are a lot of more people out there that suffer and are going through what I'm going through, and they're afraid to come out," the victim said.

Schreiber served two years in prison on similar charges in 2008.

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