All defendants are innocent at this stage of the process.
We have several incidents to report his week. We broke them up into two stories. This is the first. For the second please see: A Questionable Assault.
Perhaps the most notable is Nick Lieske (left, 19), arrested Monday by Boca PD for “Felony Fleeing and Eluding.” As the officer described it, he saw a red motorcycle with no plate. When he attempted to pull it over the rider made a few U-turns to avoid him. On the third U-turn the bike went down and Lieske, an Olympic Heights graduate, was apprehended. He was also charged with a few traffic tickets. Lieske’s reported address is in Saddlebrook, just east of 441 and south of Boca Gardens.
On the right in the top set of mugshots is Stephen D’Angelo (47), accused of marijuana possession on Monday evening. He had a prior marijuana arrest in 2010. We’ve met Mr. D’Angelo and like him. We’ve said many times in the past that the drug war is a failure and a waste of time. This is a great example.
Kenneth Plevy (above left, 60) was arrested Wednesday for DUI. A business consultant, his reported address is in the Polo Club development northeast of Jog and Clint Moore.
Above center is Emmanuel Padilla (27), accused of DUI on and booked Tuesday morning. He has had a couple felony cases in the court system from incidents in 2008 and 2010 involving grand theft and burglary. Back then he allegedly burglarized one of the high-end homes (8 beds, 11.5 baths, 18,000 square feet on 6 ½ acres) in the Boca Grande development behind Target. At least he went big. He wasn’t caught for that one until later when his DNA (from a subsequent arrest) matched blood found at the scene. Padilla’s reported address is in the Sandalfoot trailers.
Darren Melendez (above right, 22) was arrested last night in Lake Worth. Allegedly he was speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, and nearly caused a crash before being stopped by a deputy. While being placed in custody for DUI, the deputy allegedly found cocaine and a Xanax on him. Melendez is reported to live off Dixie near Yamato.
We have more cases to report but we’ll cover them in a separate story.
Tag: cocaine
Arrests: Heroin, Coke, Pot and DUI
We have eight arrests in our latest summary from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s blotter. On the upper left of the top photo we have Christopher Green (23) of East Boca, arrested by Delray police Friday night for possession of heroin and drug equipment, and also a couple DUI counts. He was released on bond Saturday. The Spanish River grad might be a fan of another Chris, the Birdman, of the Miami Heat. It appears to be the same man who had a felony battery charge back in 2008, and a couple of traffic cases.
Next we have Alexa Shuman (also 23) of Boca West. Ms. Shuman stands accused by deputies of marijuana possession. She was booked Friday morning and released that afternoon. Ms. Shuman may have had a prior marijuana arrest in New Jersey a couple years ago. She also had a traffic ticket back in 2011.
Anthony Brown (bottom right) was arrested Friday by Delray Beach police, allegedly selling cocaine. The charge is “enhanced” – the legal term for making it worse – because it supposedly occurred too close to a church, school, or some other restricted location. His reported address is in Countrypark, just south of SW 18th near the Turnpike. He was released last night on bond.
The charges against Mr. Brown date back about a month before the arrest, which always makes us suspicious about the quality of the case. He’s had a few misdemeanor and traffic cases dating back to 2003.
If we’re reading the charges correctly, Leslie Benhayoun (49) initially encountered deputies Saturday night because of a non-moving violation having to do with state right of way. That led to charges for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. She was still in custody when we checked the blotter. Her reported address is in West Sandalfoot, aka the Sandalfoot trailers. Her name shows up as a possible witness in a 2009 lawsuit against IHOP, so she may have worked there in the past. We see no prior cases for her, either traffic or criminal, in Palm Beach and Broward.
David Kornstadt (upper left, 29) was arrested Friday for battery on an officer, firefighter or EMT. He previously appeared in one of our October reports for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His reported address is in “Boca Trails” on the south side of Judge Winikoff just west of 441.
Tamas Orosz (upper right, 38) was arrested for domestic battery Friday morning by deputies and released Saturday afternoon. His reported address is in the Bella Vista apartments in Boca Del Mar (southeast of the Powerline-Palmetto Park intersection). The only history we see for him is a couple of minor traffic tickets.
Richard Utter (bottom left, 46) was arrested Saturday night for burglary. On a previous arrest in December (a drug case that was dropped) his reported address was in the Sandalfoot trailers, though this arrest has him as “at large.” He was still in custody with bond set at $5,000 when we checked the blotter. He has some history including a felony burglary in 2011 for which he got probation, and a 2003 felony case in Broward with burglary, indecent exposure and prowling counts.
This is one of those moments when we wonder why someone would get probation on a repeat felony burglary. Welcome to South Florida. In that 2011 case he eventually violated his probation and did about 3 months in county jail.