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Career Criminal Attacks Boca Beach Lifeguard

A Boca Raton beach lifeguard was attacked Monday by a man designated as a career criminal by the State of Florida. The city police blotter places the attack at Lifeguard Tower 6 (above) at the north end of South Beach Park near NE 4th Street.

Per the blotter, Arthur Kennedy Gates (55) battered a lifeguard inside Tower 6. When police arrived on the scene Gates attacked them. He was subdued with the use of a Taser, medically cleared, and then taken to the Palm Beach County Jail. Charges filed from the incident are burglary with battery, battery on a police officer, and resisting with violence. He remains in custody at this writing with bond set at $10,000. In light of a reader comment we note that there is no charge for causing injury, so we are hopeful that the lifeguard is okay.
Arthur Gates is listed by FDLE as a habitual violent felony offender.

While we found no history for Mr. Gates in Palm Beach County, we found seven cases in Broward, including felonies in 1979 (battery on police officer), 1992 (robbery), and his career felony cases from 1995. The 1995 charges look particularly troubling, including: Aggravated assault, sexual battery on a child under 11, kidnapping, and … wait for it … attempted murder in the first degree. We should note that despite the sexual battery on a child charge, he is not listed as a sex offender by FDLE. That charge may have been dropped. However, his career offender record indicates he was adjudicated guilty of attempted murder.
More recently he was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in March of 2013. Somehow that didn’t stop him from getting out in time to face two municipal ordinance violation charges in September (trespassing) and November (open container).
Gates appeared in front of Judge Crow on Tuesday and is scheduled to appear again on Thursday.
Readers might wonder what we’re wondering: How is this guy out?
Update: Per a reader comment on Facebook, we have been told the following.

Hi. I found out exactly what happened through my son’s junior lifeguard captain. The lifeguard, Brendan, is totally fine. The bad guy tried to climb the lifeguard tower. When Brendan tried to stop him, the guy put Brendan in a headlock. Then he tried to punch Brendan. Brendan was able to restrain him. Then the cops came. Brendan decided not to press charges. He felt bad for the guy because he was homeless.
Then the guy attempted to punch one of the cops. He was then arrested. The cops say that the homeless people have been doing things like this to try to get arrested on purpose to get out of the heat, into somewhere air conditioned and with food. That is why when the guy saw that he wasn’t going to be arrested at first, he then had to go after the cop. Crazy, right?
Anyway, funny thing is that I realized after hearing Brendan’s full name and age, that we went to grade school and high school together!! So funny! I told the captain that some people on Facebook were concerned about him and he promised to pass along everyones’s well wishes.

Note: Normally we try to stick closer to West Boca with our coverage. However we feel the facts here are particularly serious. Also, we go to South Beach Park ourselves and know that other West Boca residents go there. It is the one beach where non-city residents can get parking permits.

May-June Weekend Arrests

All defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

Melanie Lazo (top right, 21), from just a few houses down on the same street, was arrested late Saturday night for “resisting an officer without violence.” That charge that is so vague that it is often dismissed. She was released quickly. We see no criminal history for her but we do see 12 sets of traffic cases in the past few years. Judging by some pictures we’ve seen, she seems like a fun girl to be around.

For the second time in less than two weeks Julie Clark (bottom left, 48) was arrested for DUI late Saturday night. On this incident it’s the only charge which is odd. Usually a DUI arrest includes at least one traffic ticket so that may indicate a problem with the case. Ms. Clark appeared in our West Boca arrest report on May 22nd from the previous incident on May 19th. She remains in custody at this writing.

David Marinelli (bottom center, 32) was arrested late Saturday by Boca PD for DUI, Hit-and-Run, and charges of possessing marijuana and drug equipment.

Marinelli’s reported address is in Century Village. We see no previous cases for him in Palm Beach County but we do see a DUI case pending in Broward from a March incident in Coconut Creek.

Last and possibly least, Jose Diaz (bottom right, 22) was arrested late Sunday night for DUI by deputies. His reported address is off Palmetto Circle near the YMCA. He’s had a few cases in the court system including a domestic violence arrest a couple months ago, a felony arrest in late 2013, a DUI case back in 2009, and a few other cases.

Arrest Week: Burglary, Battery and Larceny

We remind our readers that:
All arrestees are innocent until proven guilty; and
West Boca has a very low crime rate.

We have five arrests to report in this short week.
On the upper left we have Brett Anderson (age 25) who was arrested Thursday for burglary and larceny. His reported address is in the Sandalfoot trailers west of 441, and he may be a Coconut Creek High graduate. He remains in custody at this time.

Something looked familiar about his address and we looked it up. David Ellis was in our early May arrest report with the same address.
Palm Beach court records in the new case for Anderson put his offense date almost three months earlier. Such delays usually indicate a problem for the prosecution. We see six other arrests for him including felony drug charges last year and this year, all of which were dropped by prosecutors. Broward courts show a couple of misdemeanor cases.

Nadia Franca (above right, 41) of the Horizons apartments in Boca Lago was arrested for larceny. This was charged as a very low level offense and she was released several hours later without need for bond. Court records show no priors and that this is a “retail theft.”

On the lower left, Deanna Fraschilla (50) was arrested Wednesday night for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The Sun-Sentinel reports she hit her neighbor’s girlfriend in the face with a “large, black metal object.”
Despite this being the third time she’s been in our arrest reports this month, the apparently violent nature of the current charge, and her past history of burglary and battery, she was released the same day on only $10,000 bond. We’re sure her neighbors in Boca Rio will appreciate that.

Bottom center is April Gehlhaus (39) of the Boca Entrada apartments. She was arrested and booked early Thursday morning by Boca Raton PD and charged with battery on an EMT. Boca News Now relates some details, and the Boca PD blotter corroborates to an extent.

This occurred at the Dubliner in Mizner Park, where Gehlhaus threw up and then was abusive toward police and medics, including hitting an EMT with “an open fist.”

Finally, on the lower right is Gregory DeFilippo (37) of the Tuscany Pointe apartments (near SW 18th and Military Trail). He’s accused of battery, was arrested Wednesday morning and released Thursday afternoon. We don’t have solid personal background on him, but he may work in either finance or fireworks.
Court records show this as a domestic violence issue and a previous one from last year that was dropped by prosecutors, as well as a 2010 DUI arrest where he was “adjudicated guilty by court” and sentenced to probation.

10 Arrests: Burglary, Battery, DUI and Oops

We have 10 arrests to report this week. Note that two arrests have been removed pursuant to our arrest removal policy.
In the left of the top picture, Kathryn Wilson (also 44) was arrested early Wednesday morning for trespassing and released about 12 hours later. Her reported address is “At large” in zip code 33428. She’s had many cases and appeared in our pages last month for battery. Her address then was in the Sandalfoot trailers.
Bradley Newell (far right, 33) was arrested for possession of cocaine and marijuana. The courts show numerous cases for him between 2002 and 2007 in both Palm Beach and Broward, with a large gap until this latest incident. He made the Sun-Sentinel back in 2007 for what looked like sexual abuse. His reported address is near the YMCA north of Palmetto Park Road.

We see two cases of battery in recent days. Jamie Giannamore (above left, 29) was arrested Sunday night for battery. Her reported address is in the Three Lakes apartments north of the Sandalfoot plaza. From what we see in the probable cause affidavit, all she did was push her boyfriend in an argument and he didn’t think she should be arrested. We see no prior history for her.
Dieuseul Noelsaint (right, 40) was booked early Tuesday morning for battery and he remains in custody. His reported address is in the Sandalfoot trailers. Back in 2007 he was charged with a felony burglary but was found incompetent to stand trial. Since then he had a few traffic incidents in 2010 and 2011, but we see nothing else serious. This case is being treated as domestic violence.

We have three DUI cases to report. William “Billy” Hynes (left, 32) of Boca Lago was arrested Saturday morning. The probable cause affidavit alleges various signs of intoxication, and reports that he refused a breath test. That was probably a smart move.

Mr. Hynes had a felony narcotics arrest in 2011 that was dropped, and a 2012 felony arrest for “throwing deadly missile into occupied vehicle” and of course that was also dropped. He was released Saturday afternoon.
In the center mugshot, Julie Ann Clark (48) of Addison Place (near Mr. Hynes’ address) was arrested for DUI and booked early Monday morning. She had a previous arrest for DUI with injury in 2007 and got probation for that one. She also had a careless driving conviction from an incident in late 2013. We also see a Julie Ann Clark with two felonies in Broward but the dates of birth do not line up so we don’t think that’s her.
On the right mugshot, Brooke Sheppard (26) was arrested for DUI Thursday morning. A bartender, her reported address is in Chateau on the Knoll in Sandalfoot Cove. She had a DUI in 2009 and that led to probation. She’s also had some tickets in both Palm Beach and Broward.

In the “What?” category, Robert Santiago (left, 29) was arrested for driving an unregistered vehicle and for not having a plate on the car. We didn’t know you could get arrested for that. His reported address is in the Lakes at Boca Raton.
Emily Pirtle (center, 20) can’t get a break either. She was arrested again on an out of county warrant and was again released because whatever county it was didn’t want her. The same thing happened to her in February and you’d think they’d dump the warrant from the system and leave the West Boca High grad alone.
Finally, Alexander Drzewucki (right, 46) was arrested on an out of county warrant. His reported address is in Sandalfoot Cove, and he was released to the other county today. He had a high-profile stalking incident in 2012 that was eventually dropped. The warrant might be from Broward where he has a grand theft felony pending, though the timing of the incident, filing and arrest make us wonder if that’s a weak case against him.

8 Batteries Charged: Arrest Week Part 2

We got behind so we’re splitting our arrest report into three parts. Here’s part two. Click the following for 5 drug arrests – part 1. And again, all are innocent until proven guilty

On the far left, Shanique Warren (age 20) was arrested for battery and booked early this morning (Friday), and has already been released. Her reported address is in Century Village. The courts have it as a domestic violence case. We found no other history for her, but think she might possibly be from Tampa.

Sarah Goldsberry (2nd from left, 29) was arrested for battery late last night and released this afternoon. She’s a Spanish River grad and her reported address is in the Greenbriar senior community in Boca Chase. The court has the case marked as domestic violence. We see over 30 cases (including traffic tickets) for her in the court system dating back to 2004, including at least a few for domestic violence and others for drugs.

Susan Wantz (far right, 50) was arrested Tuesday afternoon for battery. Oddly she wasn’t released until Thursday morning, but no bond was required. Ms. Wantz made a brief appearance in the local news media, angry about the KKK guy in her Sandalfoot neighborhood. This incident is listed as a domestic battery. Wantz has had a couple of minor cases in the county with the last one a disorderly charge that was dropped back in 2008.

Joel Padin (left, 39) was arrested for battery and aggravated assault, and booked early Monday morning. His reported address is in the Boca Gardens apartments. He was released that afternoon.

[2nd from left has been removed as the charge was dismissed.]
Michael Chicurel (2nd from right, 21) was arrested for battery and probation violations late Sunday. His reported address is near Coral Sunset elementary. The West Boca High grad remains in custody. Per court records the probation comes from two felony cases he had in 2012 involving burglary (dropped), dealing in stolen property and other charges.

In his younger days he may have been a great pizza eater but that skill is not helping him today:

Last up, on the far right of the above picture, Mireya Delrisco (49) was arrested Sunday for battery. Her reported address is in The Vineyards near Veterans Park. We see no prior history for her.