This past week saw a series of headline-friendly bank robberies in South Florida. Two of them involved bomb threats scribbled on notes, in which the offenders were arrested within minutes of the attempted robberies. The most recent, at the BankAtlantic branch on Fairway Drive in Deerfield Beach, was more dramatic,…
Another crazy day following shadowy leads on the political backstreets of Broward Town. Here’s something interesting that a reader was kind enough to send me: Have you ever heard of a PAC called the “The Ritter Committee for Florida’s Future”? Yes, it’s that Ritter, the one who missed the budget meeting and is apparently up in Tallahassee…
Professor Jill Levenson says not all sex offenders are alike.In a world where residency restrictions exile convicted sex offenders to live under bridges and on park benches, a glimmer of sanity has emerged. Working with psychology professors at Lynn University, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has launched a new…
Debra Villegas relied on Melissa Lewis (right) to help care for her family.At Debra Villegas’ dramatic sentencing hearing last week, her psychologist argued against sending Scott Rothstein’s former right-hand woman to prison for ten years, saying the separation would crush Villegas’ two young sons. “They wouldn’t survive,” psychologist Lori Butts…
Doing more than 29 years in prison, Robert Platshorn was the longest-serving nonviolent prisoner in America’s war on weed. He was once part of a small, homegrown smuggling outfit known as “The Black Tuna Gang.” Now out of prison, living in West Palm Beach, and active in the legalization movement,…
The ass in question.We just heard from Sgt. Carlos Bermudez, head of internal affairs at the Pembroke Pines Police Department, and Michael Cirullo, the city attorney, about the mooning incident during yesterday’s animal rights protest.They both say unequivocally that the man with his pants down in photos is not a…
Villegas has been in jail for more than two years.Tony Villegas’ mental health is a moving target, according to his attorney, and the fluctuating opinions of psychologists have stalled his trial for the killing of Melissa Britt Lewis indefinitely.In March 2008, Villegas was arrested for allegedly strangling Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler…
I’ll always remember the vice-fighting cartoon heroes of my late-20th-century childhood: Fireman Gus, Detective MacGruff, Smokey the Bear, Officer Jeff… wait, Officer Jeff was actually a chain-smoking DARE officer who drove an impounded car. Anyway, the idea that the seeds for crime are planted at a young age has led…
I don’t know how effective this ad will be for Amendment 4, but I agree with the sentiment. I remember once referring to Wayne Huizenga as a “civic vampire” (nothing personal). Glad they found a place for Nosferatu. If you haven’t seen it, the New York Times did a must-read article…
Ault may be brain damaged, but he’s still going to spend his life in prison.Howard Steven Ault has an abnormal brain. Defects in areas that process memories and emotions make him incapable of taking in data the way most people do — common problems among fellow pedophiles. And so, his…
Dragic’s Facebook profile photo.On Thursday, deputies say, Slobodan Dragic’s divorce from his wife, Jelena, reached a bloody end. During an argument on their front lawn, Dragic pulled out a .38-caliber gun and shot her in the shoulder. “You are killing me,” Jelena cried out, before Dragic leveled the pistol and…
Calvin Williams was killed May 14.This week’s New Times feature story focuses on the murder of Calvin Williams, 41, a special-ed teacher at L.C. Swain Middle School in Greenacres. In May, a lover allegedly shot and killed Williams in his Riviera Beach apartment.Lawrence Hunt, 20, told police that he shot…
Just before 2 a.m. yesterday, Patrick Alexander Dell entered the Riviera Beach home of his estranged wife and her seven children, shot her and five of the children, and then killed himself as police began to arrive.Natasha Whyte-Dell and four of her children died. Another child, 15-year-old Ryan Barnett, is…
Tony Villegas arrived in Broward County Court this morning looking weary after more than two years in jail, his thin face hidden by a scruffy brown beard. He sat quietly, cuffed hands in his lap, wearing a black-and-white striped shirt that set him apart from the drab blue uniforms of…
As if Frank and Vicki Crofutt haven’t been through enough, last night their brain-damaged son Ryan was arrested for domestic battery, after a scuffle left his father with two broken legs.Ryan Crofutt’s case became a crusade for state legislators like Joe Abruzzo, who were incensed by the state’s failure to…
Debra Villegas, left, says she was both powerful and ignorant.Debra Villegas has long presented herself as woman with dual lives: A terrified wife with an abusive husband at home, and a “cold-hearted bitch” in her day job as chief operating officer at the 70-person Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm.But in…
This was not the Crime of the Century: It was three young men in a stolen car who had plans to cruise the west suburbs of Broward County looking for stuff they could steal, then sell. So was it really necessary for police to chase the bad guys at speeds…
Photo: WikipediaWho can a blame a fella for lusting after, then stealing a 1991 Toyota Camry, like the one pictured above?If you’re on the freeway in South Broward, stop reading this blog and watch the road! If you’re still reading, then at least be on the lookout for a 1991…
A Florida Democratic Party hit mailer about Allen West’s personal financial history failed to redact the congressional candidate’s Social Security number. If it really is an “oversight,” as the Democrats are claiming, it’s a very stupid one. If it’s a deliberate invitation to a criminal to steal West’s identity –…
From WikipediaThis diagram shows how a backflow valve is supposed to take waste out of your home.A backflow valve / preventer occupies a valuable, straightforward function in the treatment of sewage. Namely, it ensures that water pressure sends waste out of a toilet toward a treatment facility. The absence of…
Debra Villegas, left, implicated others in the scheme.We’ll be posting the entire 50-page transcript from Debra Villegas’ confession hearing soon. But until then, here are the most intriguing moments from the June 11 hearing in front of U.S. District Judge William Zloch. Villegas, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of…
FlickrCharleton Heston may have joined the Great Gun Rack in the Sky, but the National Rifle Association has found a new hero: Anthony Cole of Boynton Beach. That’s because Cole used his legally owned gun to ward off an attack from a man who was robbing Cole’s home.According to a…
