Sandalfoot Woman Arrested in Fatal Crash

Laura Haggerty; image by PBSO
Laura Haggerty; image by PBSO

The Broward Sheriff’s Office issued a press release regarding the arrest of a Sandalfoot woman from a fatal crash that occurred on Loxahatchee Road in Parkland back in May:

Broward Sheriff’s Office traffic homicide investigators have arrested a Boca Raton woman who killed her passenger in a single-vehicle crash on Mother’s Day in Parkland.
Laura Haggerty, 47, was taken into custody Sept. 30 with the help of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. She faces two DUI/Manslaughter charges and one charge of vehicular homicide.
Around 4 p.m. May 8, Kelly Rider, 35, was a passenger in a Ford Explorer that was heading eastbound on Loxahatchee Road. Laura Haggerty was behind the wheel. Haggerty lost control of the vehicle near the 12200 block when her SUV drifted off the road. Haggerty overcorrected, causing the vehicle to veer across the roadway and collide with the guardrail on the north side of the street. The SUV then began to spin in a counterclockwise motion, before rolling over.
Rider, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was ejected. Coral Springs Fire Department pronounced him dead at the scene. BSO Air Rescue transported Haggerty to Broward Health North.
According to BSO detectives, she was speeding and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.25.

The BSO report indicates that both Haggery and Rider lived at the same address on Sailfish Road in Watergate Estates, just north of the west stretch of Sandalfoot Blvd.

Photo of Rider and Haggerty from Rider's Facebook page.
Photo of Rider and Haggerty from Rider’s Facebook page.

Dirty Inspection at Muddy Waters? Near Boca Inspection Report

muddy-waters
November was not a good month for the Muddy Waters Restaurant as far as inspections go. The inspector found a total of 30 violations including 6 marked “high priority”:

  • Dishwasher handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands.
  • Employee failed to wash hands before putting on new set of gloves to work with food. Cook working with raw chicken and moving to other food glove change no hand wash.
  • Live flies in kitchen.
  • Nonexempt fish offered raw or undercooked has not undergone proper parasite destruction. Fish must be fully cooked or discarded.
  • Single-use gloves not changed as needed after changing tasks or when damaged or soiled.
  • Cook touch garbage by dish machine the continues to prep food no glove change.
  • Wiping cloth sanitizing solution bucket stored near/on/above food preparation surface or food.

Muddy Waters is on Hillsboro, just west of Military Trail, in Deerfield Beach. Second worst in this month’s “Near Boca” report goes to Gordo’s Grill on Sample Road in Margate.
No restaurant had what we consider a perfect inspection (callback inspections don’t count).
char-hut
The best in this report goes to the new Char Hut burger place on Sample in Coral Springs with just one minor violation in their licensing inspection. Others with good numbers include the popular Colombian restaurant Medellin near the northwest corner of 441 and Wiles Road (2 minor violations); the Panera on 441 near the southeast corner of the same intersection (3 minor violations); and a new place, The Grille at the Bridges, which appears to be for residents of that development and their guests (3 violations including 1 “high priority”). As if you didn’t already want to live there:

The Grille at The Bridges will offer amazing cuisine for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks at The Club, poolside and coming soon — home delivery.

Other notables near Boca in November include:

  • Jake’s Wayback Burgers – Coconut Creek (18 violations including 2 high priority and a warning)
  • Bru’s Room – Coconut Creek (15 violations / 3 high priority)
  • Santo’s Buffet – Coconut Creek (14 / 2)
  • Big Bite Bagel & Deli (new) – Coconut Creek (14 / 1)
  • La Bamba Mexican – Delray Beach (13 / 2)
  • NYY Steak in Seminole Casino – Coconut Creek (12/2)
  • Blue Agave – Parkland (9/2 with a paperwork warning)

As usual, our full spreadsheet for this report is below.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nearboca-11-30-14.xls”]

Roaches at Saltimbocca in Delray – Twice

saltimbocca-delray
The worst of our latest “Near Boca” restaurant inspection report goes to Saltimbocca in Delray Beach. It was not a Happy Halloween when the inspector on October 31st found:

Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found…..one live roaches underneath 3 compartment sink and 4 live roaches along wall underneath Dishmachine

Usually when we see something like this, the follow-up inspection is clean but that’s not what happened on November 1st:

Dead roaches on premises…..2 dead roaches in underneath 3 compartment sink. You would imagine they would take it upon themselves to research pest control companies by now. **Warning** Call back: 6 dead roaches underneath Dishmachine, 8 dead roaches underneath 3 compartment sink, 6 dead roaches in cook line .
Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found…..one live roaches underneath 3 compartment sink and 4 live roaches along wall underneath Dishmachine. **Warning** Call back: approximately 10 alive roaches dishwashing area, 6 dead roaches underneath Dishmachine, 8 dead roaches underneath 3 compartment sink, 6 dead roaches in cook line.

Earlier in October they had 15 violations including 3 rated high priority:

Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit……eggplant fry, chicken breast 45°, lasagna , cheese 50° in flip top reach in cooler cross from fryer in kitchen . Food being held less than 4 hours ice down on food. Corrective action taken. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
Raw animal food stored over cooked food…..raw burger above cooked lasagna and ready to eat cheese in reach in cooler in kitchen. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in freezer – all products not commercially packaged. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**

Saltimbocca Italian Bistro is on Military Trail just south of Atlantic. We’ve never been there and we’re not likely to try it.
Other less than stellar inspections:

  • Peppertree Bagel on Sample near 441 in Margate, with 22 total violations. High priority violations involving hand washing and food storage were the most serious.
  • Duffy’s Sports Grill on Hillsboro at Lyons, with 19 violations including small flying insects in the kitchen and bar area.
  • Rotelli’s in the same plaza with Duffy’s had 15 violations, four high priority, such as hand washing, food temperatures and food storage. A follow-up will be required related to paperwork.
  • Lucky Dragon Chinese on 441 north of Hillsboro (near Starbuck’s and BJ’s) had 12 violations with live flying insects and food storage issues.

The Good News

subzero-parkland
The best of this report goes to Sub Zero Ice Cream in Parkland, with a perfect zero violations. It’s on University Drive and would be a short drive from the end of Palmetto Park if we built that bridge (never gonna happen).

Honorable mentions go to the near-perfect Bluefin Sushi and Hidden Tea Secrets, both in Parkland on Parkside Drive. Each had two minor violations. We’ve been to Bluefin and like it, and we’ve been inside the tea place. It looks nice but we haven’t tried it.

Other inspections worth noting:

  • Jersey Mike’s on 441 north of Hillsboro had a good inspection with only 2 violations, though one was high priority related to food storage.
  • Bamboo Wok in Coconut Creek (Hillsboro at Lyons, near the Rotelli’s and Duffy’s) did pretty well with 6 violations, all minor. It’s part of the same chain as the one on Glades west of Lyons, which was voted best Chinese west of the Turnpike in our survey.
  • Japango in Riverstone Shoppes (441 just south of Lox Road) had 8 violations, but all were minor.

Our spreadsheet for this report is below. The two most recent Saltimbocca inspections were not in the data set, but were on the state website when we were looking into the earlier inspection.
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nearboca-inspections.xls”]

Blue Agave on 441 in Parkland

blue-agave-front
We previously reported that a new Mexican restaurant would be opening on 441 in Parkland. Blue Agave finally opened a couple months ago and we stopped by for lunch.
The first thing we noticed is that the lunch prices are excellent. I had a steak fajita lunch for $8.95. It wasn’t a huge portion of meat, but it was more than I could eat.
fajitas
It did come with a lot of accompaniments, including sour cream and guacamole.
fajita-sides
I have to say this was the best guacamole I’ve had in South Florida. A lot of places serve it bland. This had excellent texture and flavor. Overall the fajitas were very good. Keep in mind that I’ve lived in both Texas and California, so my tastes may differ from yours.
My companion had the two-enchilada lunch which was $6.95. The guacamole was a dollar extra. She particularly liked that the food was not spicy. We asked the manager and he said they can make dishes spicy but only do so if the customer asks. It’s his impression that 90% of their customers don’t like it spicy, particularly the customers from Latin countries. Because we have a couple friends with shellfish allergies we asked him about that and he assured us they can take care of them, but to make sure to tell your server when you order.
enchiladas
They have a broad menu. Even the lunch menu has over 30 choices from $5.95 to $8.95, including a few egg dishes. The dinner menu has most of the same items at higher prices and presumably with larger portions. Dinner fajitas start at $13.95 which is quite reasonable.
The interior is large and colorful. The fire code sign indicates it can hold up to 200 people.
agave-inside-1
Blue Agave is in the Waterway Shoppes, just south of the county line on the west side of 441. It’s near The Whale Raw Bar & Fish House and Giovanni’s Pizza. The location used to be the Edo Sushi Buffet.

3 New Gyms in West Boca and Parkland

crossfit-front
There are three new gyms opening off 441 in and near West Boca. Yesterday we popped in to see the new Crossfit West Boca, in Boca Greens Plaza. It’s toward the north end of the plaza near Bruce’s of Great Neck.
Crossfit seems to inspire a following, as can be seen in this interview with Jordan Nicolosi.

Jordan Nicolosi

Crossfit seems to be the high end of the spectrum of private gyms, with unlimited coached group training included and a cost of $150 per month or more. Nicolosi told us they’re offering a pre-registration special right now at only $59 for the first month and $125/month after that. They’ve had their soft opening already with a grand opening planned on October 4th. Hours are 5:30 – 10:30 am and 4:30 – 8:30 pm weekdays with more limited hours on weekends. Classes are an hour long.
The interior is definitely a different look from other gyms we’ve seen:
crossfit-inside
They also have a kids room in the back where members can leave their kids during workouts.
On the less expensive side Youfit West Boca will be opening any day now in Sandalfoot Square (near Western Beef). The “standard” membership is $10/month. A “lime” membership at $19.99/month includes some additional privileges like half-price beverages and access to other Youfit locations. They’re offering a $1 signup for those joining before the opening.
youfit-sandalfoot
Competing on the same rough price level as Youfit is Crunch Parkland, which will be opening on the west side of 441 a little north of Hillsborough in the Riverstone Shoppes plaza. Their base membership is $9.95/month with a $30 fee to enroll, and their pre-opening deal is 25% off that enrollment fee. For $19.95/month there’s no enrollment fee and you get more privileges. There may also be an additional $40 annual fee but that wasn’t clear from the website. West Boca Chamber members are eligible for discounts as well.
Update on that from Crunch Parkland:

I just saw the post regarding the new gyms in the area and wanted to send you some corrections on the information you reported for our facility. Our enrollment fee is normally $40 on either membership. It is currently 25% off (which brings it to $30) for the $9.95/month Base membership. We are currently waiving the enrollment fee for the $19.95/month Peak membership which includes group classes, it allows you to bring a guest for free during every visit, ability to use all of our franchise locations nationwide, free hydromassage, and free tanning. Like Youfit and other low cost gyms, our memberships carry an annual club maintenance fee of $39.99. For your convenience, I also attached a picture of the facility.