Early this morning, shortly before 4:30 am, the Sheriff sent out an urgent e-mail about a child missing from Sandalfoot Cove:
Immanuel B walked away from his residence [on] SW 61st Ave, Boca Raton, Tuesday, April 7, 2015. He not been seen or heard from since. Immanuel, is 11 years old, is 5’5, 180 lbs., and wears glasses. He was carrying a black & red checkered backpack. No clothing description. Deputies have visited friends and patrolled all known places he hangs out. Due to his age, PBSO considers Immanuel B to be a Missing Endangered Child.
The good news is that a few hours after that first e-mail they followed up with another reporting that he’d been found:
Immanuel was found safely. Thank you for your assistance
Sunday there were reports of a shooting in the Boca Fontana neighborhood, on the 7600 block of Majorca Place. This area is east of 441 on the south side of Kimberly (between Yamato and Glades), and not far from Boca Greens, Southwinds Golf Course and Olympic Heights High School.
Details from official sources are limited, and the people involved aren’t talking. The official story so far is that a resident was confronted by robbers and used a pistol in self defense, accidentally hitting a neighbor in the process. Oddly some of the reports identify the shooter as the “victim.” We went to the scene Monday afternoon. As you can see in the picture on top, the media was there. This was well over 12 hours after the shooting, and nothing was going on. One notable detail is a bullet hole in the neighbor’s house: The following photo gives a better feel for the scene, with the shooter’s home to the right and the neighbor’s house across the street on the far left: The two houses are mirror-image single floor models even with a similar color scheme. The bullet hole is in the vertical blue stripe between the garage and the front door, a few feet above the horizontal stripe and a few feet below the roof line. Considering the height of the bullet hole, it would appear that the shooter fired at least two rounds, and not very accurately. It is possible that one of the rounds hit one of the robbers, though we haven’t heard anything further. Reports indicate the robbers got away. We believe we have identified the shooter, a 72-year-old man who runs a business out of the home. We are not publishing his name yet because the Sheriff has expressed concerns that the robbers might target him. Similarly the shooting victim has not been named, though we understand he is in his 30s, married with a young child (note the toy near the front door). The property is owned by an investor group that acquired it in 2013 and owns at least one other house on the street. It was rented out in December of 2013, though one source tells us the shooting victim is a new tenant so the 2013 tenant may have been replaced. The shooter’s house is owned by another 70+ woman who appears to have immigrated from Japan many years ago. Their relationship is unclear but they’ve both been in this house for a long time. We see no criminal history for the shooter, other than a few minor traffic tickets. One story we’ve heard is that the shooter was coming home from some kind of event, perhaps a jewelry show. He does own a business that would fit with going to jewelry shows, though we can’t find any record of such an event that day. In this version of events, the “bad guys” followed him home to rob him, and he defended himself. We can’t say this version of events is false of course. But we should also recognize that this area has some crime, as you can see in the crime map below (showing more than 10 burglaries, along with thefts, car break-ins and more reported from March 1 through April 6): Also, the story does not seem consistent with how the Sheriff initially reported the story: A later version we heard from the Sheriff was a little closer:
Victim was returning home from work when he was approached by unknown suspects. In an attempt to protect himself he armed himself with a handgun. During the course of the attempted robbery the victim discharged his firearm. Gunfire accidently struck a nearby neighbor.
The shooting is shown on the lower left of that image, marked in the assault category with the word shooting in the description. Note that the alleged robbery is not included in the crime map data. Zip code 33434 has a very low crime rate but that is mainly because it includes the gated and mostly senior communities of Century Village and Boca West. A shooter in cases like this will often be prosecuted, at least for negligence in how he handled his firearm if not for something more serious. In firearms training one learns not only to be sure of your target but also to know what’s behind your target. Keep in mind that Palm Beach County voted heavily Democrat in the last four or five presidential elections, and our county prosecutor went after retired dentist Wayne Tover in a shooting incident on Glades Road where Tover actually hit his target. The fact that this shooter is being treated differently makes us wonder if he has connections to police or others in government. The Boca Fontana shooter is also likely to face a civil suit from his neighbor, and that looks like a strong case for the shooting victim. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a lawyer to take that case. Fortunately for all involved the shooting victim appears to be recovering well.
There were four notable arrests recently. The two men on the right are facing child pornography charges. Brian Jackson (34) was arrested on 15 counts of possession of child pornography. He was previously arrested in 2010 on felony drug charges which were dropped by prosecutors. He remains in custody at this writing with $5000 bond for each count, making total bond $75K. Mr. Jackson’s reported address is just east of Boca Regional Hospital, but the arrest was by PBSO suggesting that it may have happened in West Boca or another area of the county. The second child porn case involves Mr. Daniel Saull (41), reportedly a resident of Coral Springs and a youth baseball coach in the Boca city league. From the Broward Sheriff:
Saull downloaded child pornography from internet sites and saved them on to flash drives. In his home, investigators found videos and pictures of mostly female children ranging in age from one to 12 years old engaging in sexual activity with adults and other children. During a search of the home, investigators found cannabis and two glass pipes containing cannabis residue. Saull is facing 24 counts of possession of child pornography, as well as charges for possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. Several electronic devises were seized from Saull’s home and will undergo forensic exams which may result in additional charges.
Broward records are harder to read but Saull has retained a private attorney and bonded out. His next court date is in mid-April. If you’re thinking you could try this out and are considering looking online for child pornography, then don’t as you will get caught and quite rightly so as no-one should ever be involved with child pornography and get away with it. Cases like these are one of many reasons why people look to censorship when it comes to pornography. Pornographic censorship is always a hot button topic, but it is universally agreed that no one should watch, make, or distribute the material when it includes minors. It should not exist, and anyone interested in porn should look for alternative shows to watch or don’t watch it at all.
Patricia Godley (28) is a little person accused of grand theft of a vehicle. We see four previous mostly minor criminal cases from 2005 to 2012 including three in Palm Beach County and one in Broward. In a 2007 battery case it appears she did just short of one month in jail. She was arrested Wednesday morning and released that evening. Her reported address is near Palmetto Park and Boca Rio. And last for this report we have Morgan Murphy (46), a resident of Sandalfoot Cove near Boca Dunes. His latest case involves an alleged June incident involving grand theft, fraud and dealing in stolen property. A warrant was issued in December and he was arrested on that warrant a few days ago. Mr. Murphy has quite a history including:
2001 felony grand theft motor vehicle – probation 2005 DWLS 30 days jail 2008 felony grand theft motor vehicle – mostly dropped but got DUI and 90 days jail 2009 felony grand theft motor vehicle – dropped by prosecutors
We also found a substantial incarceration history from the state:
Mr. Murphy remains in custody awaiting what seems like a low $11,000 total bond considering his history.
US-441 was blocked this morning for a few hours because of an accident. We’re told that the dump truck was making a left turn from Glades Road onto 441 southbound. It’s unclear why but the truck rolled over onto its side. It was carrying a heavy load of stone and it’s possible the weight shifted unexpectedly. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. Several deputies from PBSO kept the area safe while workers cleaned up the mess. FDOT staff and contractors working on clearing out the stone and removing the fuel from the truck – it was reported that there was a partial leak. Contractor removing oil from truck. Traffic was severely affected. We had reports from people who were unable to get out of Mission Bay Plaza. The section of 441 coming southbound north of Glades was backed up, to Kimberly and possibly to Yamato Road. They were unable to continue southbound on 441. Some turned right and cut through the Sports Authority parking lot. Others went left and we’re not sure what they did from there. Other traffic wasn’t quite as bad. Northbound 441 seemed unaffected. Westbound traffic on Glades was slowed a little. Eastbound traffic on Glades did have to wait an extra cycle or two at the 441 light. Glades Road west of 441 We shot several videos at the scene:
It must be crime week in West Boca. Let’s hope the big stories only come in threes because this is the third. Thanks to yet another helpful reader, we learned that there was substantial police activity in the Cimarron neighborhood on the east side of Ponderosa Drive between Palmetto Park and Glades Road. The reader specifically referenced Chipmunk Drive, and we found two arrests from that street that fit the timing. In the above mugshots, the two on the left and middle are Devon Shalmi (30) and Thomas Cuce (32), reported at the same address on Chipmunk Drive. That property appears to have been foreclosed in the last few years and acquired by a local investor under an LLC, so it appears these two men are renting the place out. The third gentleman on the right, Joseph P. Petrolino (47), has a reported address not far away in Mission Bay. All three were arrested on the “charge” of “Out-of-County Warrant.” This normally means there’s some kind of criminal case pending against them in another county. We searched Broward and Miami-Dade along with the FDLE warrant database and our local federal court, but didn’t find anything. As we were finishing up the article we heard from PBSO:
The three individuals you are inquiring about are being investigated by the Broward Sheriff’s Office. PBSO just executed a warrant that is signed by a Judge. We have no information regarding BSO’s case.
One thing notable about the three arrests is the very high bond amounts that were set. Petrolino’s bond is set at $135K, Cuce’s at $125K and Shalmi’s at a whopping $305K. So far we haven’t found much more information. All three appear to be poker players in events at area casinos (including in Broward) so that’s a possible hint, but then again it could be completely unrelated. We will contact BSO and update the story if and when we find out more. Of course, all arrestees are innocent until proven guilty.
