Crime Week: Austin Powers?
It was a quiet weekend, but Austin Powers was arrested in West Boca early in the morning on Saturday. No, not the movie character. Austin J. Powers (above left, 25) was previously involved in a shooting in Delray Beach back in 2010. Powers was not the shooter then, but rather appeared to have been one of the targets. He seems to have had over 20 court cases in the county since 2008. His reported address is off Boca del Mar Drive just west of Powerline. This recent arrest relates to a charge from July for driving with some kind of license problem (perhaps a suspension or revocation). Court records indicate he was going through a pre-trial intervention and that must not have gone well, as a “capias” warrant was issued for not appearing.
Andrew Gribben (above right, 40) was arrested on Friday evening on a warrant from another county. We think it’s from a credit card case in Broward. Mr. Gribben, of Island Lakes, was previously mentioned in West Boca News in October, on a low level larceny charge.
The area just west of Cain had its share in the last few days. Zoltan Stein (above left, 59) of Boca Isles was arrested Saturday for battery. Dana Lipsic (center, 37) from The Lakes at Boca Raton, was arrested Thursday for grand theft of a motor vehicle. And John Sedita (right, 19), also from The Lakes and a former West Boca High student, was arrested Friday morning on marijuana charges. Mr. Sedita was also arrested on New Years Day in 2013 for burglary of a conveyance (presumably a car). That felony charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor and then dropped by the prosecution.
Jacob Shai (above left, 57) was arrested Thursday evening for battery. His reported address is behind the Shops at Loggers Run, near Judge Winikoff. Mr. Shai and his wife run Auto Clinic of Boca Raton with a partner. They had a brief moment of minor celebrity in the world of divorce law when a Circuit Court judge refused to divorce them, sentencing them to stay married. Kudos to our neighbor Boca News Now for breaking that story back in November.
We also have two Sandalfoot arrestees. First, Michael Schale (above right, 49) who lives near Boca Rio and SW 18th, was arrested Friday afternoon for battery.
Finally, Kelly Ferguson was arrested on Wednesday for a larceny charge. Her reported address is only a few hundred feet from Mr. Schale’s, though we don’t think there’s any connection between the two cases. We should note that larceny cases are often difficult to prove and in our experience those accused are often innocent.