Readers reported a SWAT raid on a “drug house” in the West Sandalfoot trailers (Watergate Estates) on Friday night, with approximately ten PBSO cars and two armored SWAT trucks involved. Reviewing the PBSO blotter we see three arrests that fit with this incident.
Hassan Jones (left, 42) and Terry Utter (center, 59) were booked shortly after midnight, each with the same reported address on Atlantic Circle, which is near the west end of Sandalfoot Blvd where it meets Tradewind.
Jones faces two drug charges, including felony drug possession with intent to sell. Utter is charged with two felony drug possession counts (cocaine and another drug without a prescription) and one misdemeanor count for possession of drug equipment.
Antonio Francula (right, 25) was arrested within minutes of the other two, also on drug charges as well as resisting an officer without violence. Francula’s reported address is in East Boca, in the city, but the arresting agency is PBSO which does not operate in the city. Considering that and the timing, there’s a substantial chance he was part of this incident. But we can’t be sure at this point.
As far as criminal history goes, this appears to be Jones’ sixth felony arrest. He’s had four other cases in this county dating back to 1998, and traffic felony in Broward from 2012 (along with five prior minor criminal charges there). The 1998 case was a grand theft and he got probation. In 2003 he got 30 days in jail on felony drug charges. In 2011 he did a short county jail stint on a misdemeanor drug charge. In 2012 he got four months for two grand theft felonies.
Utter had a felony drug arrest in 2012 that was dropped by prosecutors. She then had a felony cocaine arrest in 2013 and was sentenced to a day in jail that she had already served.
County records show Francula had a 2008 robbery felony and he completed his probation for that in 2012. Then in 2013 he was arrested for a misdemeanor retail theft and paid a fine (no jail sentence). A few months later he had another misdemeanor theft charge and got 4 days jail time. This one’s a doozy – he was supposed to get 30 days but it was mitigated to 4 days because he showed up on time for his last court date without being arrested. Earlier this month he was arrested for burglarizing a car and that case is still pending.
Jones and Utter were released Saturday evening. Francula remains in custody at this writing.
Tag: felony
Repeat Felon Steals Girlfriend's Checks?
Charles Brice Nelson (above, 23) was arrested on Wednesday and charged with five separate counts including two traffic tickets, two felony counts of fraud, and one count of felony grand theft. He remains in custody at this writing on $18,000 bond.
Per the Palm Beach Post, Nelson allegedly stole checks from a girlfriend and used them to pay off personal debts. It should be noted that Mr. Nelson apparently denies doing so, and he is innocent at this stage of the legal process.
Mr. Nelson has a significant criminal history in the county. He’s had several traffic tickets in just a few years, and in addition he had felony arrests in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 felony arrest involved an aggravated assault charge and a second count that court records show as either “burglary with assault” or “robbery with weapon.” The latter charge was dropped, Nelson was adjudicated guilty of the assault and he was sentenced to a year in jail and 4 years of probation. That probation was later revoked.
With that sentence in mind, it’s odd that his 2013 felony arrest, for grand theft, involves an offense date before that one-year sentence would have been completed. Court records show he was adjudicated guilty in the 2013 case and was sentenced to “364 days” concurrent with the first sentence, and it shows no additional probation.
It’s now a few months after that second one-year sentence finished and he’s arrested again, this time for grand theft and fraud.
Mr. Nelson’s reported address is just southeast of the intersection of Kimberly and 441, in a small house that is owned by someone in Rhode Island.
Felony Grand Theft Charges for West Boca Man
On Sunday Michael Davis (above, 34) was arrested on two felony counts of grand theft. Court records show a third charge for the lower level petit theft as well. There’s an unusual detail to these charges. Court records show the offenses allegedly occurred in late February and early March of 2013. Two of the charges were filed in court back in May of 2013 and the second felony count was filed in October of 2013.
In our experience, when cases age like this it can create problems for the prosecution, especially with Florida’s speedy trial law. We do not have the underlying paperwork so we can’t offer any substantive analysis of Mr. Davis’ case.
Mr. Davis’ reported address is just south of Town Center Mall, though he may have moved here from upstate New York. He has a lengthy history in the Palm Beach courts dating back to 2007, with almost all of it traffic related. Several of his traffic cases remain open from as far back as 2011. At this writing he remains in custody with bond set at $6000.
West Sandalfoot Car Burglar Arrest
Alexander Broadbridge (above, 33) was arrested Tuesday accused of two counts each of burglarizing conveyances (which usually means cars) and loitering/prowling. His reported address is near the west end of Sandalfoot Blvd in the Watergate Estates trailer park.
This is the second recent arrest we’ve noticed for car burglaries, with a Spanish River grad arrested last week. We’ve heard many reader complaints about car burglaries.
While he lives in Boca, Mr. Broadbridge appears to be a graduate of Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, and has some connection to North Carolina. He remains in custody at this writing with bond set at $6000.
Court records indicate this arrest arises from one or two incidents that took place on Monday. There is also another open felony for him that shows an arrest in February, but oddly shows the offense date as July, five months later. That’s probably just a typo and the sheriff’s record also shows the arrest as July. On that arrest he faces charges of dealing in stolen property and what looks like providing false information to a pawnbroker.
Mr. Broadbridge has nearly twenty cases in the Palm Beach court system (mostly traffic) and five in Broward including two felony grand theft cases from 2011. In Palm Beach his history started with a 2002 DUI and a 2003 felony battery.
We’re not sure what this photo is but we’re wondering if he’s ever been one of the panhandlers people talk about.
Arrests for Early October 2014
Last week Chad Eggleston (32) was arrested on charges of burglary, grand theft, and criminal mischief. Court records indicate the alleged burglary took place in early September, about a month before the arrest.
Mr. Eggleston has a lengthy history in the Palm Beach County court system with over twenty cases including several felonies. The earliest one that shows up is a felony burglary arrest from 2002. There were felony drug charges in 2004 and 2006, a felony burglary case and a case for dealing in stolen property in 2008, and a 2010 burglary that was dropped by prosecutors.
More recently in 2012 he had a set of drug charges that were dropped by prosecutors, followed by what looks like multiple incidents similar to this recent arrest – burglary of a conveyance (usually a car), dealing in stolen property and grand theft. That ended with several months of jail time and may have prompted this Facebook post:
Last year he was charged with a domestic battery and resisting an officer. He pled guilty to the latter and got a couple more days in jail for that.
Eggleston was a soccer star for Spanish River High School back in the late 1990s.
Mr. Eggleston’s reported address is just off Sandalfoot Blvd on the east side of 441, not far from the Sandalfoot Square plaza. He remains in custody at this writing with bond set at $6000. The court docket indicates he refused to go to his first court appearance, and his next court date is in early November.