crime – Lights and Sirens

PBSO: Lake Worth rock-thrower apprehended by one of his victims

A man throwing rocks at vehicles at a Lake Worth intersection was arrested after one of the victims chased him down and held him until Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, according to an arrest report.

Edwin A. Mendez is facing four counts of throwing a missile at a vehicle, three counts of criminal mischief and one count of resisting an officer without violence. Mendez, 20, was released from the Palm Beach County Jail Monday after posting a $22,500 bond.

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Mendez allegedly hit four vehicles with rocks while he stood at an intersection Friday night at 1st Ave. S. and South H Street. The report said Mendez piled up rocks at the intersection then tossed them at vehicles as they drove by.

One of the alleged victims turned the tables on Mendez. After the man’s vehicle was struck with a rock, he returned and confronted Mendez.

At first, Mendez said he would pay for the damages. When the man said he was calling police, Mendez tried to flee on foot. The man chased and caught Mendez, placing him in a bear hug until deputies arrived.

Mendez tried to run away after deputies arrived and told the man restraining him to let go, the report said. Mendez didn’t get very far before he was arrested.

PBSO: Man kidnapped 13-year-old girl at bus stop, sexually assaulted her

A 20-year-old man is being held without bond after he allegedly tied up and raped a 13-year, according to an arrest report.

Pascual Efrain Perez Perez is facing charges of kidnapping and sexual assault and is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail.

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The 13-year-old girl, whose identity and address are redacted in the arrest report, told Palm Beach County sheriff’s detectives that Perez Perez kidnapped her at about 8:15 a.m. May 20 while she was standing at a bus stop waiting for a ride to school. The name of the school and the location of the bus stop also have been removed from the report.

The girl said Perez Perez pulled up in a Toyota Corolla, came up behind her and put something over her nose before putting her in the vehicle. After kicking Perez Perez between the legs, the girl said she passed out.

When she awoke, the girl was in Perez Perez’s bed without her shirt on, the report said. She was lying on her back with her hands tied together in front of her and bound by pants.

Perez Perez then “raped” her, the girl told detectives. The girl said she bit Perez Perez on the forearm and upper back during the attack and he responded by slapping her, the report said.

When the girl told him to “stop,” Perez Perez said if did not allow the sexual assault to continue, he would “kill or harm her family.”

The girl said she knew Perez Perez because he had been to her house once to purchase food.

DNA evidence ties Perez Perez to the sexual assault, according to the report.

Off-duty trooper follows West Palm Beach driver involved in hit-and-run

A West Palm Beach man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly caused a crash with injuries then fled the scene, according to an arrest report.

Andrew Ryan Carlin, 20, wasn’t able to get very far.

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An off-duty Florida Highway Patrol trooper witnessed the crash and followed Carlin to the 2700 block of Misty Circle Boulevard where his vehicle was stopped by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies.

Carlin is facing a charge of hit and run in a crash involving injuries and was released from the Palm Beach County Jail after posting a $1,000 bond.

Carlin was driving a Mazda that allegedly crashed into a vehicle driven by a 25-year-old Greenacres woman near the 1200 block of Royal Palm Beach Boulevard, the report said.

The woman sustained chest and neck injuries and was taken to Palms West Hospital.

Carlin was stopped by deputies on Misty Oaks Circle and taken to Wellington Regional Medical Center for reasons not explained on the arrest report. He was released from the hospital and jailed before bonding out.

Teens accused of breaking in, robbing Boca Raton home, PBSO says

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office say two men broke into a suburban Boca Raton home last month, hit the teen who lived there on the head and robbed him.

Surveillance footage and witnesses’ tips led deputies to arrest 17-year-old Michael Green and 16-year-old Christian Diaz on burglary and armed robbery charges, according to court records. Both are being charged as adults, jail records show.

Christian Diaz is charged with armed robbery and burglary. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) — Christian Diaz is charged with armed robbery and burglary. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

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The injured teen told deputies he was asleep at about 4 p.m. Sept. 6 at his home, west of Boca Woods Country Club and north of Loxahatchee Road.

Michael Green is charged with armed robbery and burglary. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) — Michael Green is charged with armed robbery and burglary. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

He’d come home early from school, he said, smoked a marijuana cigarette and fell asleep in his bedroom. He was awakened by a bang at the front door. When he left his room, he was pushed against a wall by two “kids” in camouflage and masks, he told deputies.

He recognized one to be Green, a Hollywood resident. He told deputies they were friends in middle school.

The teen fought with the suspects, one of whom hit the teen on the head with a hard object, according to a sheriff’s office report. The suspects made off with money and jewelry, the teen told deputies. They fled in a getaway car parked nearby.

Deputies said the teen had scratches around his neck, a cut on the back of his head and blood stains on his shirt.

A person who saw the teens flee the house told deputies one was Diaz, who lives in Boca Raton. Surveillance footage from the neighborhood shows Diaz and Green enter, then leave the home, according to a sheriff’s office report.

Both teens are being held in the Palm Beach County Jail. Both have juvenile records, which influenced Judge Joseph Marx’ decision to hold them in jail without bond until their next court appearance.

Boynton police say man brought syringe hidden in buttocks to police station

A Boynton Beach man is facing a charge of smuggling contraband into a detention facility after he brought a syringe hidden between his buttocks into the Boynton Beach Police Department, according to an arrest report.

Tomas Xavier Collier was stopped by police Friday night after an officer saw him driving erratically on the 800 block of Seacrest Boulevard, the report said.

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Police found prescription drugs and heroin in the car.

After being taken to the police department for processing, Collier was asked if he was carrying anything that the officer may have missed.

Collier said he had a syringe between his buttocks.

“I had Collier retrieve the syringe from his buttocks,” the officer wrote in his report.

Collier, 20, is facing two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and one count each of possession of drug equipment and smuggling contraband into a detention facility.

He was released from the Palm Beach County Jail Saturday after posting a $9,000 bond.

PBSO: Man at work opens fire in Fun Depot parking lot

A Riviera Beach man landed himself in jail last week after shooting at a car in Fun Depot’s parking lot west of Lake Worth while working at a labor site, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

Jonathan Tindell, 33, faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and discharging a firearm in public.

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According to a probable-cause affidavit made public Tuesday, Tindell was working Sept. 28 for a labor company with another man in a business plaza next to Fun Depot, an amusement center on 10th Avenue North. At about 8:30 a.m. a gold Honda Accord drove suspiciously into the parking lot toward Fields and Tindell.

Once the car pulled up, Fields started to run toward the Fun Depot and the car’s passenger chased after him. When the driver of the vehicle stepped out, Tindell started shooting at him, according to the police report.

PBSO deputies said the driver hid behind the van to avoid getting shot and Tindell then walked with his co-worker toward Fun Depot.

A surveillance video at the Fun Depot shows Tindell openly shooting at the van and then walking away with his co-worker. Police said “there was a clear risk other people could have been harmed” by Tindell’s firing, and since he is a convicted felon, he “should not be in possession of a firearm.”

Police arrested Tindell, who was being held Wednesday at the Palm Beach County Jail on a $12,000 bond.

State records show that Tindell previously served a five-year sentence for robbing a store with a firearm in 2003 and that he was released from prison in 2008.

State drops two charges in insurance case, plans to drop two others

UPDATE: The state in October 2016 chose not to take action on the criminal mischief and perjury charges on which James Tassi had been arrested. Prosecutors also agreed in August 2017 to drop a charge of filing a false insurance claim against Tassi once he completes 18 months of probation. That probation is scheduled to end in February 2019.

In late August, James Tassi Jr.’s 2015 Lexus crashed into a canal near Delray Beach.

It went just as he’d planned, according to state officials.

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The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud says the 58-year-old Boynton Beach broker drove his luxury vehicle into a canal off Half Mile Road west of Delray so he could make a false insurance claim on the damage.

Court records show the claim was more than $20,000.

An official from the state’s Division of Insurance Fraud was contacted in August by someone about Tassi’s plan – called “vehicle ditching,” according to a state report.

Video and audio, reviewed by a state official Aug. 26, show Tassi drive the white Lexus into the canal, according to the report.

After the wreck, Tassi made a false police report and a false insurance claim, officials say. He was arrested Monday afternoon on perjury, insurance fraud and criminal mischief charges, according to Palm Beach County Jail records.

Court records show Tassi has had a slew of traffic violations in Palm Beach County since 2002, but has an otherwise clean record in the county.

Boca police: Man on flakka offers ride to woman whose car he stole

Duaine Andrew Knisely is charged with armed robbery and carjacking. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) — Duaine Andrew Knisely is charged with armed robbery and carjacking. (Provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

A Vero Beach man told Boca Raton police that he had been on flakka for a week. So he didn’t remember much about robbing a woman at an ATM or stealing her Jeep Wrangler in January 2015.

Police say Duaine Andrew Knisely, 38, held a knife to the woman’s throat Jan. 10, 2015, and demanded $500 from the Chase Bank ATM on North Federal Highway, near Spanish River Boulevard. He then asked for her car keys, but was apologetic while he did it, she told police.

“You can grab anything from your car before I take it,” the woman recalled Knisely telling her. “If you want, I can give you a ride to where you’re going.”

She declined his offer.

Martin County sheriff’s deputies called Boca Raton police the next day to inform them they’d found the stolen Jeep Wrangler. Knisely was charged with vehicle theft, fleeing police and driving with a suspended license, according to a Boca Raton police report.

Boca officers met Knisely in Martin County where he told them about his drug addiction and admitted to not remembering much of what’d happened at the ATM that night. He’d been high on flakka the whole week.

He again apologized and showed police the knife he’d used and stored under the driver’s side floor mat in the Jeep.

Knisely spent a year and a half in custody in Martin County, where he was found guilty on charges of fleeing police and driving with a suspended license, court records show.

He was booked Friday afternoon into the Palm Beach County Jail, where he is being held without bond on armed robbery and carjacking charges, according to court records.

State drops battery, disorderly conduct charges against Tequesta woman

Editor’s note: Court records show that prosecutors dropped charges of disorderly intoxication, battery and resisting without violence after Denise Yates entered a pre-trial diversion program following her January 2016 arrest. She completed community service and the case was closed in August.

Jan. 28 story: As Denise Yates attempted to ride her bicycle in Tequesta on Tuesday afternoon, her struggles to maintain her balance caught the attention of passersby and eventually village police.

Yates told a police officer she had a hair appointment and attempted to stagger away, according to an arrest report made public Wednesday. But instead of making her appointment, the 49-year-old Tequesta woman ended up getting arrested on a disorderly intoxication charge.

Police also charged Yates with battery on a law enforcement officer and obstruction without violence. She was released from the Palm Beach County Jail Tuesday night on her recognizance.

According to the arrest report, officers responded to the area of Tequesta Drive and Mars Avenue shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday after callers reported that a woman kept falling off a bicycle. An officer arrived to see the woman, later identified as Yates, staggering and struggling to maintain her balance as she walked along Tequesta Drive. She began to stagger toward traffic and fell onto the grass beside the road. The report doesn’t mention where Yates’ bike was when she was met by police.

Yates became “belligerent” while telling the officer she had an appointment, the report said. When told she was not free to leave, Yates allegedly grabbed the officer’s wrist and pushed him back toward the road.

After being arrested, Yates attempted to pull away from officers repeatedly stating “I’m leaving,” the report said. She reportedly told paramedics later that she had three vodka and cranberry drinks prior to leaving her house.

PBSO: Riviera Beach man punched, threatened to stab woman

A Riviera Beach man was arrested on Monday following a domestic dispute, according to a report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say Tarvaras Allison, 26, showed up uninvited to a woman’s house on Sept. 26 and began punching and threatening her and stole her car. The report doesn’t specify the relationship between Allison and the 25-year-old victim. He faces charges of aggravated assault, vehicle theft, battery and criminal mischief for damaging her property.

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When the deputy arrived at the victim’s house Monday morning, he noted the woman bleeding from her mouth and neck and what appeared to be the aftermath of a fight: Broken furniture and glass cluttered the floors.

The woman said that around 7 that morning, Allison used a key to get into her house and demanded to know where she was on Saturday night. When she told him she had been at her mother’s house, the man called her a liar and punched her. Allison dragged the woman by her hair into the bedroom and then took her purse and keys.

To defend herself, the victim said she grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and Allison responded by grabbing two knives and threatening to stab her with them.

Another woman in the house heard the commotion and tried to jump in between them to de-escalate the situation, but Allison shoved her away. He started breaking items in the living room before driving away in the victim’s 2012 Kia.

Allison is currently being held in PBSO’s Main Detention Center in West Palm Beach on $3,000 bond.