pbso – Page 9 – West Boca News

SWAT Raid in Meadow Lakes?

New Update: Mr. Parry has apparently been released and had these comments in response:

Update: We’ve learned that the SWAT incident did not involve Mr. Parry, but rather was for a misdemeanor domestic assault in Meadow Lakes.

A number of readers contacted us about a SWAT raid in the Meadow Lakes community yesterday. We can’t be certain that it’s related, but Troy Parry (20) was arrested for felony battery and his reported address is very close to Meadow Lakes in the Emerald Bay Club apartments at Boca Entrada. Both communities are on the west side of 441 just north of the county line.

The precise nature of the charge against Mr. Parry and other details are unclear. The sheriff’s blotter indicates:
“BATTERY – FELONY BATT OR DOMESTIC BATT BY STRANGULATION”
The court records shows the charge as felony battery under §784.041(1), which is:

(1) A person commits felony battery if he or she:
(a) Actually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other; and
(b) Causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement.

The strangulation charge is listed under subsection 2 of the statute, so it probably does not apply here.
Also, the sheriff’s blotter shows the arresting agency as PBSO (Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office). But the court record indicates the arresting agency as Boca Raton PD. It also indicates the alleged battery occurred on October 25th (Saturday). The case was filed on Tuesday and a warrant was issued.
Parry, an Olympic Heights graduate, has a mostly clean record. All we see is a few traffic tickets and an “open container” incident in Deerfield Beach earlier this month.
Why the SWAT team? We don’t have the underlying paperwork to know, but we have some guesses. Maybe it’s because the police were scared of him because he’s in great shape, has a tattoo, and is friends with black people?
In response to comments on Facebook about that last line, we now include this: SARCASM ALERT!
If you don’t get it read Radley Balko’s book.

Or maybe it’s his Twitter post from the day before his arrest:

Accident Follow-Up: Hit-and-Run Driver Not Charged Yet?

Last month we reported on an accident where three pedestrians were hit by a car on 441, northbound near West Boca Medical center.
We’ve been trying to follow up on this case but PBSO was not helpful initially. Over a month later we finally got a few records. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to give us a lead so we could find out more.
For starters we’ve learned the names of the individuals involved in the accident. One of the pedestrians hit was Victor Carneiro Brito, who is 18 years old and reportedly lives in the Boca Entrada apartments. The other two pedestrians, both male, are under 18 so we are not including their names in this story. One is a student in one of the middle schools in West Boca.
We’ve also learned that the alleged driver is Brett Knowles (30), of Boca Isles. Mr. Knowles appears to be a 2002 graduate of Olympic Heights High School, and he may work as a barber.

Mr. Knowles has a substantial history in the Palm Beach County courts. This is not a typo – he has 41 cases in the system. Some of them are multiple charges from one incident, but that’s still a lot.
Here’s a mugshot from a 2013 arrest for driving with a suspended license:

The court record indicates he got 4 days in jail for that one. He had a similar incident in 2012 and got 10 days in jail, which may have been longer because he failed to show up for a court date. Oddly the 2013 incident was charged as a first offense even though it obviously was at least the second offense.
Mr. Knowles faced felony drug charges in 2008 and 2010. On the 2008 case he was sentenced to 10 days in jail and on the 2010 cases (2 incidents) he got 6 months.
Update: It occurred to us we should check Broward. Mr. Knowles had an incident there in August of 2013. It was a combination of drug possession, a traffic ticket, and criminal driving with a suspended license.
In addition to those he’s had a few misdemeanors and numerous traffic tickets. He also demonstrated questionable judgment by posting this on his Facebook page:

We spoke with a family member of one of the pedestrians. PBSO informed the family that Mr. Knowles was driving with a suspended license, that police were tipped as to the license plate and met him at his home, where he admitted being the driver.
Here’s where it gets interesting: From the court records database, no charges have been filed against Mr. Knowles yet, not even a traffic ticket. A deputy told the family that Mr. Knowles would be in jail within a few days. It’s been over five weeks and he is still free with no charges pending from the incident.
Update – PBSO’s Theresa Barbera responded:

This investigation is still active and ongoing. Once completed the state attorneys office will review. These types of investigations take days, weeks and sometimes months.

We tried to reach Mr. Knowles but he hung up on us. To be fair, that’s probably a good decision on his part.
All three pedestrians were hurt, ranging from head injuries and broken bones to one undergoing surgery. Both to protect their privacy and because we don’t have enough information, we won’t go into more detail on the extent of the injuries.
No one likes to think too much about the possibility of being involved in a car accident, but it is important to remember that if you are caught up in a collision that you suspect was not your fault, you might want to consider filing a lawsuit.
Filing a personal injury lawsuit can be an expensive process, but there are a variety of methods to help you cover the financial costs.
Nova Legal Funding provides lawsuit loans that can help you to get a personal injury lawsuit off the ground. For more information go to fundmylawsuitnow.com.
We still hope to get more information on this case. If any of our readers can provide us with more or put us in touch with anyone involved, please let us know. We can be reached at [email protected].

Deputies Chase Thief, Find Bees

Readers contacted us about an incident on Palmetto Park Road just east of 441. A reader at the Walmart saw roughly seven Sheriff cars on the north side of Palmetto near Lowe’s and Walgreen’s.
After that the cars moved first into the parking area of those stores, and later even more PBSO vehicles were seen by other readers at the West Boca Medical Center emergency room.
We contacted PBSO information officer Teri Barbera. She’s not in the office but told us what little she knows at this time:
Deputies were chasing a suspect in a case involving theft. The chase led into an area with bees and deputies were stung. They are being treated at the medical center. Ms. Barbera did not know if the thief was caught when we spoke.
A reader updated us on what she saw:

I personally was there at the scene during almost the entire time. I was on the North side of Walgreens near the wooded area. The young guy who ran from Police to get away and hide stayed down in the murky area with water until the Canine finally arrived.
I only heard one Officer’s request to him to come out before the dog arrived as he would be bitten. All the Officers were standing watching the area where he went in. Nothing was said to try and get him out peacefully before the dog arrived on scene. Must have been 25 minutes before dog arrived. Since I was on the back side, I heard the dog go in and get the guy. I was heading out just after I heard the dog on the South side, making my way around and back to the scene. When I approached, the white guy was laying on the ground with no shirt and handcuffed behind his back. I did see blood on his arm.
Then I heard and noticed all the yelling and jumping…OMG…they were all being stung by bees! I felt so sorry for them all. I looked in my car for anything to help with the swarm of bees, but I had nothing to assist with. They quickly put the guy in the Police car and drove off. Many Officers were clearly visibly shaken with all the bees and stings. I felt so bad for them all.

We at West Boca News send our best wishes to the deputies and hope for their quick recovery.

SWAT Team in Mission Bay

Update: Readers tell us the situation has resolved safely, though it will take an hour or more for life to return to normal.

Several readers notified us of heavy police activity in the Harbour Springs and Baybreeze section of Mission Bay, west of 441 on the south side of Glades Road.

There is some indication from the Sheriff’s office that a man is a danger to himself, intoxicated, armed and he has locked himself in his home. Readers have reported to us that they’ve seen as many as 15-20 police cars. One reader said 30 cars, and multiple readers mentioned the SWAT team. Some residents may have been evacuated. Two readers told us that police told them to stay inside their homes due to the danger of gunshots.

We also received this from Palm Beach County Alerts:

***WEST BOCA*** BARRICADED SUSPECT — Harbour Springs @ Mission Bay (address withheld for officer safety & scene integrity) — ‪#‎PBSO‬ & ‪#‎PBCFR‬ onscene of a domestic incident, suspect refusing to comply w/ orders, PBSO trying to evacuate area houses, SWAT & K9 onscene

We will update this story as we learn more.

Reckless Driver Hits Tree in Boca Winds

We heard about a traffic incident last night from a reader and also from a personal friend. We’ve checked the blotter and see no arrests that fit with this incident nor the pedestrians hit in front of West Boca Medical Center. We have reached out to PBSO but so far we’re not getting meaningful answers on either one.

Me and my friend almost got into a wreck because of these people but the person driving the truck seemed drunk and was swerving all over the road. They hit a tree and then the driver ran from the scene and left the truck!

And from our friend:

A truck passed us going over 100 in a residential area just outside [Boca Winds]. He turned sharply into [Boca Falls] immediately in front of another car, blocking the car from moving forward. We thought it might be a case of road rage and that the two drivers were about to get into it. But the truck backs away after a couple of seconds (and probably after seeing that road was the entrance to a gated subdivision – Boca Falls), cuts in front of us, and goes across the street into [Boca Winds], driving really wildly and out of control. The truck slams into a tree and just then a police car flies by us in pursuit. The driver of the truck jumped out of the vehicle and “escaped” on foot with the officer in pursuit. This all happened right in front of us over just 30 seconds or so. We had to back out of the entrance to get to our street another way.

Boca Falls and Boca Winds have entrances that meet on West Palmetto Park Road about 2 miles west of 441.

Here’s is last night’s public statement from PBSO:

Around 9 pm this evening PBSO responded to a hit and run accident involving 1 vehicle and 3 pedestrians. The vehicle was traveling north bound on State Road 7 just north of Central Park Blvd South.
The three pedestrians were riding skate boards on the bicycle lane on the east side of the road going north when they were struck by the vehicle. The vehicle left the scene heading north and has been apprehended. Two of the pedestrians where taken to delray medical center and are in stable condition and one was taken west boca medical.
The investigation is open and ongoing and the driver will be checked for possible impairment.

In the blotter we found a hit-and-run arrest, but the driver was from West Palm Beach and court records say that relates to an incident in July. We also see a “fleeing law enforcement” arrest, but the driver in that incident is from Pahokee, which is an awfully long drive from Palmetto Park Road.