Heroin, Coke and More: 5 Drug Arrests This Week

We went from a quiet weekend to a busy week. There were so many arrests we’re splitting them into two articles. First up there were five arrests for drug offenses. Of course all defendants are innocent at this stage. For the second article see Nine Arrests.

Dana Lipsic (above left, 37) of the Lakes at Boca Raton (near Cain north of Yamato) was arrested Saturday by Boynton Beach police and charged with four counts including heroin and cocaine possession.
Ms. Lipsic previously appeared in one of our January arrest reports for grand theft of a motor vehicle. Notes in the court docket indicate she was initially recommended for drug court in that case but rejected by the judge because of a previous drug court stint (from a 2007 cocaine possession charge). The charge was then dropped by prosecutors.
Dimitri Washington (center, 24) was picked up late Tuesday and also accused of four counts including a small amount of marijuana and battery. His reported address is in Boca Del Mar near Military and SW 18th. All charges are being heard in the domestic violence part. We reviewed the probable cause affidavit on this one. It looks like it might be a weak case against him if a motion to suppress is made, though it might be quicker and easier to resolve with some kind of pre-trial diversion.
Nicole Hartnett (right, 27) was arrested for heroin late Wednesday. Her reported address is a house owned by an absentee landlord from another state, and it borders the Del Prado Elementary School property. Court records show she was arrested in 2011 for a DUI, pled guilty a few months into the case, and was sentenced to probation which was completed in 2012.

Carl Monaco (left, 28) and Eric Topalian (right, 26) were booked at about the same time Thursday by Boca PD, and both were accused of drug offenses. The timing makes it look like they were arrested together but we’re not sure. Topalian’s reported address is in Boca Springs, north of Judge Winikoff near Hammock Street. Monaco is listed as “At Large” which might translate to homeless. Looking through his eight blotter entries in the past year all of the arrests have been by Boca PD, and the only address we see for him other than at large is in Okeechobee.
Mr. Monaco has a substantial record. This is his fifth arrest this year and his second felony arrest. Some of his recent arrests are for trespassing. Despite repeated convictions he keeps getting very short jail sentences. He does have some arrests for violence further back in his past.
For Mr. Topalian this is his 7th felony case out of over 30 court cases (mostly traffic) dating back to 2006. He achieved minor fame in 2012 by trying to bribe a policeman with tickets to a Dolphins game, as written up in the Palm Beach Post. Despite a terrible season, the Dolphins did win that game.
Mr. Topalian called us to offer us more details. His arrest had nothing to do with Mr. Monaco. It was an illegal search. The female officer claimed she smelled marijuana to justify the search and no marijuana was found. The car did not smell of marijuana. Rather he’d been eating a tuna fish sandwich and that is what the car smelled of.
The paraphernalia charge is for rolling papers and the drug possession charge is for a small strip of ceboxone.
The case involving the Dolphins case was dropped.