pbso – Page 13 – West Boca News

Sandalfoot Arrest: Laser Pointed at PBSO Copter

Apparently it’s not a good idea to shine a laser pointer into the cockpit of a helicopter. Especially if it’s a Sheriff’s copter.
James McDonald (52) was arrested early this morning accused of doing just that shortly before midnight.

On July 9, 2014, at 11:50 pm, a white male subject was seen shining a green class II laser pointer in the cockpit of PBSO Eagle. James McDonald was identified as the suspect and arrested on the following charges: Public Order Crimes – Point a Laser Light at Pilot and Misuse of a Laser Lighting Device (Aircraft). He was booked into the PBC Jail. His current bail is $3000.

McDonald’s reported address is on Tradewind Road, on the west end of Watergate Estates (aka West Sandalfoot or the Sandalfoot trailers).
We should note that from the limited facts we’ve seen so far this may be a difficult case for the prosecution to prove.
PBSO is particularly tweaked by this one:

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office REMINDS the Public that Misuse of Laser Lighting Device is a FELONY. There has been an ongoing problem with the misuse of a green laser that has been pointed into the cockpits of aircrafts landing at PBIA.

They added that if any injury results the charge is upgraded to a 2nd degree felony, and if it causes an aircraft to crash that puts it in 1st degree territory – and you don’t want to be there.
PBSO requests:

Should anyone witness the misuse of a Laser Lighting Device please report it immediately to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the nearest law enforcement agency, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS or text to [email protected].

We see no previous criminal history for Mr. McDonald in the county, though he has had several traffic cases. And we did find a couple felony cocaine cases and a DUI misdemeanor for him (or someone with the same name and date of birth) in Broward from back in the late 1980s.

Shooting at Palmetto and Powerline?

Update: PBSO reports that two people were shot inside the nightclub early this morning. Two victims were taken to hospitals.

PBSO is investigating a Shooting at Club Oasis – 7000 Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton
On Sunday, July 6, 2014, at 2:46 am, deputies responded to 7000 Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, in reference to a shooting at “Club Oasis”. When deputies arrived they found a very large crowd outside the club dispersing. Witnesses advised deputies that a shooting had taken place inside the club. Once deputies went inside they found two victims shot. One in the hand and one in the torso. The victim shot in the hand was transported to West Boca Medical Center and the victim shot in the torso was transported to Delray Medical Center.
Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators arrived on scene to investigate further. The motive for the shooting is unknown.
More information will be released when it becomes available.

A reader tipped us off to an incident late last night at the Oasis Night Life. The nightclub is in the office building on the southeast corner of Palmetto Park and Powerline.

Several PBSO deputies were on scene. We are told there may have been a shooting.
The image below is from the event they were having:

They were right about one thing. This probably was the biggest night in their history.

Details Emerge on Palmetto Pines Accident

See update at bottom.
More details have emerged about last night’s accident in Palmetto Pines. Multiple readers have told us that the driver in the incident was Xavier Borgos, a 19-year-old and recent graduate of West Boca High. At this time we cannot verify that it was him.
There is a Xavier Borgos who is a dancer and MC with a local DJ company.

There is also a 19-year-old Xavier Raymond Borgos who had a 2013 traffic case marked as a crash and careless driving charge. The charges in that case were dismissed after a pre-trial diversion program.
One reader reports to us that the driver, whoever it was, appeared intoxicated but was not arrested and instead “released him to his mother.” Another reader reports the vehicle lost control on a curve at 75 mph, in a neighborhood with a much lower speed limit than that.
If true, deputies releasing an intoxicated driver after a crash without an arrest is something that may concern our readers. We have sent inquiries both to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office seeking an incident report or other information, and to Mr. Borgos to see if he has any comment. PBSO told us that accident reports take a few days to get into their system. Mr. Borgos has not responded as of yet. We will update the story if we find out more.
As for Mr. Borgos, if it was him, he may be a better dancer than a driver. He may even dance around the law well.

However, we’re not as enamored of his rap skills.

Update: Borgos shared an emergency room picture on his Instagram account revealing a broken nose and an apology.

Desperate in Sandalfoot: PBSO Going Door-to-Door

Update from PBSO on June 11, 2015:

On Sunday, June 8, 2014, shortly after 10:00pm, Susan Roberts drove away from St. Mary’s Medical Center, where she was employed in the pharmacy. Roberts was driving her beige 2009 Lexus GX350 sport utility vehicle en route to her home in unincorporated Boca Raton
On Monday, June 9, 2014, at 3:47pm, Roberts was discovered deceased inside her vehicle in the Watergate Mobile Home Park on Sandalfoot Boulevard, also in unincorporated Boca Raton. It is believed that Roberts may have been in unincorporated Boca Raton when the crime occurred.

In the wake of the dead body found in a Lexus in West Sandalfoot, we’ve had reports from a couple readers that Sheriff’s deputies are going door-to-door to see if they can get more information. One reader from a business in West Boca Square (the Target plaza) said deputies came by asking if they could put up flyers like the one above.
Another reader contacted us yesterday:

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department were going door-to-door this morning in the Watergate Estates neighborhood, handing out flyers and asking anyone with any information or to report anything unusual that they may have observed to Crimestoppers. The one main area of interest seemed to be on Sandalfoot Blvd, West of 441 and N. Branch Road. The PBSO detectives were additionally recording names and telephone numbers of the residents they made contact with directly.

The location described refers to a fairly short stretch of SW Sandalfoot:

Since the initial report PBSO identified the body as Susan Roberts of Lexington Estates. To our knowledge the Sheriff has not provided any more details, such as the cause of death, mechanism of injury (if any), etc. We are inquiring to see if they will provide such details.
The area along SW Sandalfoot, west of 441, is commonly referred to as the Sandalfoot trailers. Residents also refer to it as Watergate Estates. We think West Sandalfoot might be a good name for it as well, since the area east of 441 is known as Sandalfoot Cove.

Sandalfoot: Home Explosion and the Media Scrum – Photos and Video

Update: The house appears to be secure. We saw a neighbor being interviewed (see video at bottom) and she said that she heard an explosion that sounded like an electrical transformer, and then heard someone climb over her fence. Government officials are reporting that the property was being used as a “grow house” for marijuana production. No word yet on any injuries.

Sandalfoot Cove was host to numerous first responders and a media scrum. Residents reported an explosion on SW 62nd Street, which lies between Palmetto Park Road and SW 3rd Street, between Lyons and 441.

The street was full of people and emergency vehicles when West Boca News arrived. Here you can see a cameraman in the foreground, with Fire and PBSO personnel mid-ground and residents in the background.

Out on SW 3rd the TV trucks were in force:

Here you can see the house in question, with windows in obvious disarray and PBSO deputies heading around to the back of the house:

And here’s the best close-up we could get of the house.

While first responders were entering without safety equipment, a PBSO deputy told us to stay back to the other side of the street because the house might still be unstable. We didn’t believe him but obeyed anyway.
They brought out lots of heavy equipment, including the PBSO bomb squad:

Here’s some video of the scene:

And here’s part of a TV station interview with the next-door neighbor

A reader helped with research on the property. It is owned by “62nd Avenue Holdings, LLC.” That company is filed with Florida by registered agent (and real estate agent) John McCann of Boca Valley Realty on North Federal Highway.
The Sunbiz filing shows one individual who may be the owner or manager of an investor group, Mario Monello.

We don’t know if it’s the same person, but there was a Mario Monello involved with Lehman Brothers before the financial collapse. That Mario Monello is mentioned in this CNN story about leveraged finance back in 1989. One fictional work about the collapse has a character named Mario Monelli, perhaps an homage: The Lions’ Den.

Seeking help from Wall Street, Julie finds an unlikely defender of the American system, Mario Monelli, a Mergers and Acquisitions expert at a prestigious investment banking house, pitting him against his long time Wall Street nemesis, Barton Mulvaney, rumored to have shadowy ties to the Royal family. Mario is nervous about the idea, and whether he has the pedigree to challenge Bart. But he’s also falling in love with Julie and uses the opportunity to be around her.
Mario also heads up the Zoo Crew, a wild bunch of investment bankers who lack the breeding and education of their colleagues—but not the brains—and have dedicated themselves to helping beleaguered companies fend off corporate raiders.

We called McCann’s office and left a message. We were not the first call and we suspect Mr. McCann is wisely avoiding any public comment.
Here’s another video – firefighters entering the home after the situation stablized: