6 Crime Stories
Some more crime stories to bring cheer to your hearts. We’ve got a DUI on SW 18th, child abuse in East Boca, petit larceny from a Mizner Court resident, battery in Watergate Estates, vandalism and a warrant for a Sandalfoot Cove resident.
We keep saying nothing good happens after 2 am. Here’s another example.
Ryan Scarpa (31, East Boca) was stopped at a traffic light on SW 18th at Dixie Highway just before 3 am and did not move as the light cycled “several times.” He told police he was on his way home from work (City Fish Market?).
Scarpa was taken to the PBSO breath testing facility and registered a 0.130 and a 0.139.
We see no priors.
Hector Leiva (40, Sandalfoot Cove) was arrested on an out-of-county warrant. We’re not sure if it’s Broward but he does have a pending 2nd degree felony charge pending for robbery. The paperwork in the court filings doesn’t indicate the details of the offense yet.
Leiva has had multiple cases in both Broward and Palm Beach courts in the past including felonies, misdemeanors and traffic criminal.
48-year-old Johnny Torres of East Boca was arrested for child abuse. He has 49 cases in the court system that we can see, and an FDLE record.
The arrest report is heavily redacted but it looks like Torres beat up his son.
Watergate Estates’ Melinda Christensen (47) was arrested for domestic battery after she slapped her boyfriend in the mouth, causing bleeding. She claimed the boyfriend hit her, and the deputy did notice she had a small cut above her upper lip, but arrested her anyway.
She has had multiple prior domestic violence cases and a 2002 felony grand theft case.
East Boca’s Patrick Palma (22) was arrested in Boynton Beach. As best we can tell he just moved here recently. The events leading to his arrest start with a discharge from a detox facility in Boynton, where he angrily broke a door hinge on his way out.
The next day an officer approached him about that incident. Palma was drinking an alcoholic drink in an open container, so the officer arrested him and put him in the back of the police car. Palma then kicked out the rear passenger window of the police car, leading to a felony charge.
We see no priors but it he’s from out of state so any priors may be from elsewhere, possibly the Philadelphia area.
Steve DeMitro (25, Mizner Court Apartments) was charged with petit larceny. He was caught on video stealing a $400 driver from the PGA Superstore in Delray.
Court records show he had a 2018 theft charge that was dropped by prosecutors.