West Delray Robbery and Arrest

A Boynton Beach couple displays an amazing Before and After look. Left image from Facebook; right image from PBSO.

A crime drama unfolded right on the edge of West Boca. Almost as interesting as the crime is the story of their dramatic change of appearance over the past year. The photo above left was taken in early 2017. The photo on the right is from their recent mugshots.

Details from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) indicate:

On June 26, 2018, the HUSBAND/WIFE team, suspects; Brandon Froum, and Mirabehn Froum, were inside 7-Eleven when they attempted to steal/conceal items and flee, when confronted by the clerk, Mirabehn sprayed a chemical spray in the clerks face. After a brief struggle the suspects fled in a Toyota 4Runner.

Both suspects were apprehended during a traffic stop in unincorporated Delray Beach on Thursday, July 19, 2018. This husband and wife team are now currently residing in the PBC Jail.

PBSO released photos from inside the robbery scene:

Images from PBSO, supplied by store security system.

The Mobil Gas Station is located in the 13500 block of S. Military Trail, Delray Beach, a few miles north of the Boca-Delray line. The arrest was reported to be in “unincorporated” Delray, which is generally what we call West Delray, again just north of us.

As usual there’s more to the story. Mrs. Froum has had two misdemeanor cases this year, retail theft in January, and possession of narcotics equipment in March, both resolved in May with guilty pleas. Mr. Broum had a felony arrest in March which is still pending in the courts. In that case he’s accused of “aggravated battery”, and the probable cause affidavit indicates Mrs. Froum was involved. Part of that affidavit is below, and even the police officer notes Mr. Froum’s change in appearance:

Froum allegedly stabbed the victim in the arm with a large kitchen knife. His bond in that case had been set to $50,000 ($25K each on two counts) and he was bailed out on April 9th. The aggravated assault count was dropped but the aggravated battery remains pending. His bond was revoked as a result of the new arrest. Mrs. Froum’s bond on the new charges is set at $100,000 on each of two counts – Felony Petit Theft and Felony Battery.

We don’t know how their criminal case will work out but they may have potential for a reality TV show about weight loss and makeovers.

It should be noted that the appearance of the two individuals is so dramatically different that we can’t rule out the possibility this is some kind of identity theft or fraud. We think they’re the same people, but we’re not sure.

Suspect Wanted for Burglarizing Boats

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From the Palm Beach Sheriff:
Suspect Wanted for Burglarizing Boats located at a Storage Facility in Unincorporated Delray Beach.
A total of four boats were burglarized. The unknown suspect helped himself to Yamaha Engines ‘lower units’, along with GPS systems, and rods/reels.

The incident took place on the 13000 block of Military Trail, just north of West Boca.

The suspect was carrying a black cloth tool box which can be seen in a photo in the corner of the boat with the straps sticking up. He seemed to be well versed in boat mechanics as he did not damage the center consoles when removing the electronics and was very clean.
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The suspect is a white male, approximately 6’0”, 170 lbs., has dark hair, clean shaven, wearing camouflage shorts, a black tee shirt, black ball cap with unknown emblem, and black gloves.
If anyone can identify this suspect they are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
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Apeiro Hit With 18 Violations: The Near Boca Inspection Report

Photo from Yelp
Photo from Yelp

The new Apeiro restaurant in Delray Marketplace had one of the worst inspections we see in our latest “Near Boca” report. They had a total of 18 violations including 6 marked as “high priority.” Perhaps the biggest concern was that several foods and sauces were not kept at proper temperatures including a stop-sale. Here’s the worst of it:

Cooked potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within 6 hours. Roasted garlic cream sauce 49°, eggplant meat 49°, Brie fondue 49°, acqua pazza sauce 49°, herb balsamic sauce 47°, bolognese sauce 47°, falafel mix 47°, cooked mushrooms 47° all in containers that were too deep, and coved and held overnight or more.
Employee failed to wash hands before changing gloves and/or putting on gloves to work with food. **Corrected On-Site**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Foods in walk in cooler were temping in at 45° because the walk in cooler had an ambient temperature of 44-45°. Corrective action taken – operator adjusted the temperature setting for walk in cooler to a lower temperature. Walk in cooler is now reading an ambient temperature of 37°. **Corrected On-Site**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. Roasted garlic cream sauce 49°, Brie fondue 49°, acqua pazza sauce 49°, eggplant meat 49°, herb balsamic sauce 47°, bolognese sauce 47°, falafel mix 47°, cooked mushrooms 47° all cooled in deep containers, covered and held overnight. Garlic and oil mixture – held at room temperature (78°) for more than 4 hours.
Thermotape failed to turn black to indicate the sanitization temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit was achieved on the dish surface. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired. **Corrected On-Site**

Apeiro’s inspection was in mid-April and indicated that a follow-up inspection is required. We don’t see that follow-up in the data yet.
Burt & Max in the same plaza (and we think with the same owner) had a pretty good inspection with 7 violations.
Ruvens on Jog Road in Delray had the worst number in this report with a whopping 34 violations, 8 of them marked high priority. The worst of that was: Stop Sale issued due to adulteration of food product. Unwashed orange inside a bucket of coleslaw in walk on cooler. However, a follow-up inspection was not required.
The Burger King on Atlantic near Military Trail was closed briefly in late April due to roaches: “one live roaches in kitchen, 8 live roaches in icee machine cabinet by the ice machine.” It was reopened the same day after a quick repeat inspection.
Others in Delray with poor numbers include Zorba’s Taverna on Linton (19 violations), The Grill at the Bridges (18), Beijing Palace on Jog (18), Mr. Chen’s Hunan Palace (17) and Bagel Twins (16), both on Linton, Gramercy Bagels & Deli (15), Greek Emporium (15) and Panda Gourmet (14).
The best inspection we saw in Delray was the Subway and the Philly Grill both on Military Trail near Atlantic with 2 violations each.
Broward County
The worst in Broward was China Buffet & Grill on Hillsboro west of Powerline, with 25 violations including 8 high priority and a warning issued.
Also on Hillsboro, La Brasa (at Lyons) and Muddy Waters (west of Military Trail) had 17 violations each. Duffy’s on Hillsboro had 12 violations but only one was marked high priority. Muddy Waters also had only one marked high priority.
Bru’s Room on Hillsboro near 441 had 11 violations with two marked high priority. Those two looked picky to us. Food supposed to be kept below 41º was at 44º, for example. They had a call-back a week later and had only one minor violation.
The good news in Broward includes Deer Creek Country Club (whose restaurant is open to the public) and Sublicious on 441 near Holmberg, with just one minor violation each.

Mizner Trail Going Ahead with 250+ Homes

In January of last year we reported on a proposal to add 288 new housing units in Boca Del Mar, replacing an old golf course. That proposal, now whittled down to 252 homes, appears set to be built in the near future.

Site Plan for Mizner Trail. This version still shows the old 288-home layout.
Site Plan for Mizner Trail. This version still shows the old 288-home layout.

The Sun-Sentinel reports that the last opposition to the new development will not appeal any further.
In our review of various documents we can’t find a solid number of actual units that will be built, nor clear indications as to what will be built. The Mizner Trail website claims it will be:

252 luxury units are proposed, 115 patio homes and 137 townhomes. Units will range from 2300 square feet to over 3500 square feet with prices ranging from approximately $425,000 to $695,000 or more.

We’re not even sure what a patio home is, and the same website has a site plan showing 288 homes rather than just 252. We’ve seen other numbers including 255 and 253. So it’s not fully settled yet. The Sun-Sentinel did note that some hurdles remain with permitting so it may get worn down a bit more in the bureaucratic grinder.
The area in question lies between West Camino Real and SW 18th, to the west of Military Trail:

The full site plan pdf is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2013-10-14_FINAL.pdf”]

53 Violations? – Restaurant Inspections in "Near Boca"

We’ve changed how we break down restaurant inspections geographically into three areas: West Boca, East Boca, and what we call “Near Boca.” We covered East Boca inspections about a week ago, and West Boca Inspections a week before that. For Near Boca we include parts of Delray Beach, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, Margate, Coral Springs, and Deerfield Beach.
This report’s worst is an easy call. CJ’s Drafthouse in Deerfield Beach got clobbered by inspectors with a whopping 53 violations.
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It was so bad that it got covered by a local TV station’s “Dirty Dining” segment:
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They were closed for a day, and had the same thing happen to them in June. They have a long history of inspections that were bad enough to require follow-up inspections. Here’s the full list of “high-priority” violations from this inspection, including live flies, roaches and rodents:

Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly-0 ppm when tested.
Grease interceptor/trap overflowing onto floor/ground.
Numerous live flies in kitchen.
Pesticide-emitting strip present in food prep area.
Pesticide/insecticide labeled for household use only present in establishment, Raid and hot shot insect sprays on shelves in kitchen, 5 cans of raid on shelf in front of reachin cooler.
Raw meat/poultry cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit in reachin cooler by cookline. Note: Operator said they are working, took corrective action by placing ice on products.
Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found, 6 next to dish machine, 4 in imperial oven by cookline, 1 on clipboard on wall across from cookline, 3 with eggs intact on hand wash sink infront of cookline.
Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found, approximately 10 moist on shelf next to hand wash sink in front of three compartments sink, approximately 20 moist on pot cover on shelf in storage area, approximately 20 moist behind reachin freezer, approximately 40 moist behind dish machine, approximately 60 moist under shelf by dish machine, approximately 4 moist on bag with sugar on shelf in front of walkin cooler, 2 moist on top of cream Saran wrapped container with bread on shelf in front of walkin cooler, 3 moist on wall next to rear door, approximately 25 on top of reachin cooler next to ice machine, 2 moist on top of hot water heater, 3 moist on floor on the west side of the bar, 6 moist on wall in dining room.
Stop Sale issued due to food not being in a wholesome, sound condition, flour bag with evidence of rodent bites, and bag with sugar with evidence of moist rodent droppings.
Toxic substance/chemical stored in food preparation area with potential to cause cross contamination, raid.

CJ’s Drafthouse is at the intersection of Hillsboro and Military Trail.

Other restaurants that stood out to us this week include:
Also in Deerfield Beach, the Paragon theater had only 5 violations. The worst of it was paperwork issues.
In Coconut Creek’s Promenade, Saito’s Steakhouse had 12 violations, but they were mostly minor ones and did not require a follow-up inspection or any other warnings. Salad Creations there had 11 mostly minor violations, and La Via Ristorante had only 3 violations, all minor.
Butterfly World (Lyons Road & Sample in Coconut Creek) had the best performance in this report with two separate inspections on October 1st. One inspection had a perfect zero violations and the other had only one minor violation. Just north of the Sawgrass on Lyons, The WOW Factory had six violations, all minor.
On Sample Road in Margate, La Bamba had 10 violations with one marked high priority, and Golden Corral had 7 minor violations.
On the west side of Sample in Coral Springs, the results were pretty good. Uncle JC Chinese was the worst with 7 mostly minor violations. A paperwork issue will require a follow-up inspection. Pita Pit had 3 violations, all minor. Tobo Japanese had only 2 minor violations.
Closer to West Boca, we see only one place in Parkland on the list. Yogurt Craze on 441 had only one minor violation.
North of Boca we didn’t see any restaurants in Delray Beach that we recognize. The worst number was “Florida Meals, Inc.” on Linton with 14 violations including 3 high priority and a warning. Nearby Poppies had 9 violations with 3 high priority, a warning and a stop sale:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit……..chicken, gravy, tomato sauce, dill sauce , beans, fat, holandale sauce 49° to 51° in 3 door reach in cooler by the walk in cooler . Canadian bacon, ham, cheeses, 51° in daily back up reach in cooler cross from conventional oven in way to kitchen. Food being held more than 4 hours . Stop sale issue. Butter, cream cheese 61° no under control temperature in bar counter . Operator discarded food. Butter cream cheese, 45° in flip top reach in cooler in server station and tuna salad, chicken salad, egg sala, pasta, 45° to 46° in daily display cooler in front line. Operator stated door was not closed perfectly . Advised closed door all the time. Corrective action taken. **Warning**
Raw animal food stored over cooked food…….raw shell eggs above hot dog in reach in cooler in cook line . **Corrected On-Site** **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse……see stop sale report. **Warning**

Excell on Congress had a poor inspection with 9 violations including 5 high-priority:

Chlorine sanitizer not at proper strength for manual warewashing. Do not use equipment/utensils not properly sanitized. ………200+. **Corrected On-Site**
0Clams/mussels/oysters cold held at a temperature greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. …..beef, turkey , ox tail, beans, goat , rice 51° to 54° in 2 door reach in cooler in kitchen. Food being held more than 4 hours. Stop sale issue.
Equipment and utensils rinsed after the application of the sanitizer solution. **Corrected On-Site**
Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit…….beef, turkey, rice, ox tail,beans 51° to 54°,meat vegetable 45° in 2 door reach in cooler in kitchen . Stop sale issue. **Repeat Violation**
Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse…..see stop sale report. **Admin Complaint** **Repeat Violation**

The best result in Delray Beach was the Subway on Congress south of Atlantic, which had only one minor violation. Hunan Garden on Linton had a perfect zero violations, but it was a callback inspection which means they had a problem on their previous inspection that required a follow-up.
Our spreadsheet for this report is below.
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