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: dui
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.
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.
DUI Crackdown in Boca Raton
Please remember: All arrestees are innocent until proven guilty.
There must have been a crackdown on drunk driving this weekend because we see a lot of DUI arrests in the sheriff’s blotter, especially in the city of Boca Raton.
Above left, Nathan Donnini (age 20) was arrested for DUI, hit and run, and operating without a valid license. Boca PD indicates he refused a breath test. Many Florida DUI lawyers recommend refusing such tests. Donnini was held for over 24 hours. We’re not sure why it took so long to release him. Per court records, Donnini had a DUI arrest in 2012 and did probation for it, another arrest for driving without a valid license, and another for retail theft. DUI cases are surprisingly common, this is why if you are ever in a road accident involving someone under the influence. If you are in need of a DUI lawyer, your best bet is to visit sites like https://www.flcrimedefense.com/dui-lawyer/ to see how they can help you in this situation.
Caitlin Piegel (center, 26) was arrested early Friday morning on I-95 for DUI. The Boca High graduate and current Lynn student also refused a breath test. She was released in a few hours.
Court records for Piegel show a disorderly intoxication charge from 2006 which was dropped after she completed a diversion program.
Julio Romero (right, 49) was arrested late Thursday night for DUI. He was released in less than 12 hours. Court records show an odd case that looks like a DUI with injury and marijuana possession in 2002, but the records says the case was not resolved until 2006. That doesn’t make a lot of sense and we wonder if it’s an error.
Marco Mendezuraga (left, 21) was charged Friday morning with DUI, hit and run, and operating without a valid license. We’re not sure if the name is correct as the Sheriff has it, or if it’s really Mendez Uraga. We don’t see this case in the court records.
Warren Redlich is a DUI lawyer and the author of Fair DUI: Stay safe and sane in a world gone MADD.
Melissa Vomel (center, 25) was arrested early Friday for DUI. Her booking and release times were each within a few minutes of Piegel’s and Mendezuraga’s times, suggesting they were all brought to the jail in the same police vehicle. The FAU grad comes from Naples and works at one of our favorite pizza places. Court records show an underage alcohol possession case from 2009 that was dropped.
On the right, 36-year-old Cristiana Jaimeduarte (or Jaime Duarte) was booked Saturday morning for DUI. Court records show another charge from the incident for driving in the wrong lane.
Bruce Weitzner (left, 65) was arrested for BUI – boating under the influence – late Saturday night. He was released early Sunday morning. Whether he was impaired or not, this will hopefully not impair his work with trees. Court records show a disorderly intoxication charge for him from 2006.
Matthew Faranda (2nd from left, 29) of Addison Place was arrested early Sunday morning for DUI. The FAU grad works at a local country club. His court record is clean other than a few tickets, including a speeding ticket from a week earlier.
2nd from the right, Amane Abdi (28) of the Town Colony apartments was booked early Monday morning for DUI. Court records show several prior tickets including a string of three more serious ones in 2009.
Anthony Thomas (right, 25) was also booked Monday morning for DUI. His case does not show up in court records yet and we see no other cases for him.
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.