Woman falls victim to distraction scheme

Boca Raton, FL – On Thursday, February 2, at about 1:00 p.m., Boca Raton Police officers responded to a report of a distraction theft that occurred at a home in the 1800 block of Sabal Palm Drive in Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club.

The victim told officers  two men came to her front door and told her there was a water problem on the street and they needed to check her water.  The suspects entered the home and went to the kitchen with the victim.  One suspect sprayed a solution into the sink and intentionally sprayed the victim’s hand.  They told her to immediately wash her hand since the solution could burn.  The victim went into the bathroom, took off her diamond ring and washed her hands.  One suspect then told her to follow him back to the kitchen and he would show her how to properly wash the solution off.

The suspects told the victim they had cream for her hand and a solution to clean her ring in their truck.  The victim waited inside and when the suspects did not return, she went to retrieve her ring and discovered it was gone.

The suspects are described as about 25 years old, both were wearing jeans, one had a small checked t-shirt and brown hair.  The other suspect wore a yellow vest and yellow hat and had brown hair and a goatee.

Crimes like this one are far too common in South Florida.  We encourage people to remain vigilant and not allow strangers in their home.  Any legitimate worker(s) will have identification and have it clearly displayed.  If anyone has information about this crime they are asked to call Detective James Giumenta at (561) 338-1303 or Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS.

Suspect #1:                   Suspect #2:

White male                    White Male

25 years old                   25 years old

Brown Hair                    Jeans

Jeans                              Yellow vest/hat

Checked T-shirt             Brown Hair & Goatee

Drug deals drive robbery trend

Boca Raton, FL – Since January 9, 2012 the Boca Raton Police Department has investigated six robberies.  Four involved the use of weapons, and during the remaining two, force was used to take money or property. The common theme with all of the robberies is that they occurred while the victims were attempting to purchase illegal drugs.  The victims range in age from 13 years old to 35 years old.  One victim was subsequently arrested for possession of the marijuana that he purchased during the drug transaction.

The Boca Raton Police Department reminds you that drug use can have serious and long lasting consequences.  Simply arranging the transaction could be hazardous to your health.  If you are aware of any suspicious activity, do not hesitate to call 911.

Boca Raton Police Honor Officer & Civilian

of the Year

Boca Raton, FL – In a ceremony Friday, January 25th, Boca Raton Police Chief Dan Alexander awarded Detective Sean Flynn the Officer of the Year Award and Brenda McWhorter the Civilian of the Year Award.

Pictured left to right: Brenda McWhorter, Civilian of the Year, Chief Dan Alexander, Detective Sean Flynn, Officer of the Year.

Detective Sean Flynn

Investigator Flynn has been a police officer with the Boca Raton Police Services Department since 1999.  In 2009 Detective Flynn was selected as a founding member of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).  The unit was established to identify and target individuals travelling into the City to commit crimes and assist investigators with high tech investigative techniques. Detective Flynn has also been a member of the Boca Raton Police Bomb Squad since 2004 in which he has assumed the role as primary robotic operator.  In this role, he is tasked with developing a means of robotically deploying an overpressure device designed to defeat the command system of an improvised explosive device.  With ideas from team members, Flynn developed a mounting bracket for the robot that would facilitate delivery of the overpressure device.  This has lead to the FBI’s Devices Operations Center requesting permission to distribute a bulletin nationwide to all Bomb Squads outlining how to retrofit robots with this design.

Detective Flynn has also helped solve and arrest numerous cases in the City.  In June 2011 Detective Flynn assisted in the investigation of several residential burglaries that seemed to be targeting vacant residences.  It was believed the suspect was utilizing the residences for shelter then stealing items from within, along with the vehicles in the garage.  The suspect was identified through fingerprints left behind on a recovered vehicle.  Detective Flynn, using his contacts, determined similar crimes were taking place near the beach in Deerfield.  Believing the suspect was still in one of the residence; Detective Flynn conducted surveillance of the area and subsequently arrested the suspect who confessed to five resident burglaries in Boca Raton.

In April 2011 Detective Flynn started to investigate the theft and sale of a Rolex watch on eBay.  The case started back in March when the victim reported that he believed his roommate stole two of his Rolex watches valued at $5,000. The roommate, Arthur Braun, was no longer living with the victim and his whereabouts were unknown. A search was conducted at pawn shops in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties, based upon the serial number provided by the victim and by the name of the suspect. Though no transactions were found, investigators determined the watch had been sold to James Ratcliffe, who knew Braun through rehab. Ratcliffe, who thought the watch was a replica, bought it for $200 and had it serviced. When he found out it was real, he decided to sell it on EBay and received $3,161 for it from Michel Ipenza. The watch was shipped to a Miami address. When investigators went to the address, they learned that Ipenza lived in Peru and the Miami shipping address belonged to a friend. Further investigation revealed that the friend had taken the watch to Ipenza when she visited him on a recent trip to Peru. When Ipenza learned the watch was stolen, he contacted Boca Raton investigators and agreed to send it back.

Arrest warrants were filed for Arthur Braun on August 3, 2011, charging him with second degree

felony, dealing in stolen property.

These are just a few brief examples of Investigator Flynn’s work and dedication.

Brenda McWhorter

Brenda has worked in Communications of the Boca Raton Police Services Department since 2008.  For the last two years Brenda has been the Cities Radio Technician.  The duties include citywide assignment of 1,500 radios along with maintaining and keeping track of all portable and in-car radios in nearly 80 departments in the City.  Her duties also include keeping track of all returned and malfunctioning radios, supervising installation and switching out of in car radios, approve radio vendor invoices and collect payments from various departments, and maintaining inspection of City FCC licenses.

Her duties also include maintaining all cell phone inventories for the Police Department, along with being the main contact with AT&T for new phones, disconnects, and activations.  McWhorter also assigns all call signs in the CAD system, coordinates supplies for hurricane preparedness and sets up critical testing for probationary employees. 

These are just a handful of the tasks Brenda McWhorter does on a daily basis.  While the tasks appear to be truly overwhelming, McWhorter has a talent not everyone possesses.  She is proficient, resourceful and patient. 

Boca Police investigate bank robbery

Boca Raton, FL – Detectives from the Boca Raton Police Services Department are investigating a bank robbery that occurred shortly after 1:30 pm Friday at the Comerica, 1 South Federal Highway.  The suspect passed the teller a note asking for money and left on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.  He’s described as a heavyset white male, 5’10”, wearing a blue baseball cap, a light colored shirt and blue pants. No weapon was seen. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 800-458-TIPS or Detective Chris Suarez at 561 620-6146.

Update: Silver Alert

Mr. Cavallo was found safe in Lake Worth by PBSO.

The Boca Raton Police are currently working a Silver Alert regarding a missing 90 year old man.  His name is Guido Anthony Cavallo and he drove away from his home at 384 Sequoia Lane, in northeastern Boca Raton about 3:05 p.m.  Mr. Cavallo is 5’9” tall, 220 pounds, has grayish white hair, hazel eyes and is wearing a white, short sleeve button down shirt, black pants, and brown shoes.  Mr. Cavallo is driving a 2003 beige Toyota 4-door Camry, bearing Florida tag W513JQ.  Mr. Cavallo suffers from dementia.  If he is located call your local police department immediately.

Free Document Shredding Event
Boca Raton Police and Microshred Corporation team up to help fight Identity Theft

Boca Raton, FL – On Saturday, January 28, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the Boca Raton Police Department and Microshred Corporation are again teaming up to help prevent identity theft by hosting a free document shredding event. The event will be held at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall, 6000 W. Glades Road, in the NW corner of the parking lot near Sears. By shredding and properly disposing of all your sensitive documents, you will be taking a key step toward protecting your identity. According to reports from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, more than 15 million people reported having their identities either stolen or misused last year; and Florida had the highest per capita rate of reported identity thefts in the United States. The overall losses from identity theft last year were close to $37 billion.

Microshred Corporation will have document shredding trucks on-site and each participant will be given a “Certificate of Destruction” after all their documents have been shredded. The event is open to all non-commercial participants. Officers from the Boca Raton Police Department Crime Prevention Unit, along with employees from Microshred Corporation, will be on-site to provide expert advice and tips to prevent identity theft.

For additional information contact Officer Craig Kolnick at 561-347-3934 or visit our website at www.BocaPolice.com.

Teenager punched, skateboard and wallet taken

Boca Raton, FL – On Saturday, January 7, at 7:10 in the evening Boca Raton Police officers responded to a report of a robbery that occurred in the area of 1500 NE 5th Avenue.

The victim, a 15 year old male, told officers he was riding his skateboard south on the east sidewalk of NE 15th Avenue. As he approached NE 16th Street, he noticed a large group of males standing in the area. The victim told officers he was uncomfortable riding through the group, so he crossed over to the west sidewalk. As the victim crossed the street, five of the males followed him and one yelled, “Yo yo, come here.” The victim did not look or respond, and was then knocked off his skateboard by several punches to his back. The suspects took his skateboard and his wallet.

The victim described the suspect who hit him as a black male, approximately 17-19 years old, about 6’ tall, clean shaven and wearing a red shirt and dark jean shorts. The victim’s skateboard was recovered a short distance away. The victim was treated at the scene by Boca Raton Fire Rescue.

If anyone has information about this crime, they are asked to call Detective Jeff Clare at (561) 338-1246 or Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS.

Teenage car thief faces multiple charges

Boca Raton, FL – The first crime was discovered on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 at the Tri-Rail Station, 680 West Yamato Road. The victim told Boca Raton Police officers that he parked his Dodge Caravan on Thursday, December 8th and when he returned to it on Saturday, the van was gone. While officers were investigating this case, they discovered an abandoned Dodge Neon in the parking lot, which had been reported stolen with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The officer processed the Neon and recovered several latent prints.

The next theft happened on Wednesday, December 14, when another Dodge Caravan was stolen from the Advent Lutheran Church, 300 East Yamato Road. The vehicle was parked at 6:00 p.m. and discovered stolen at just before 8:00 p.m. On Thursday, December 22, a 2001 Dodge Neon was stolen from the Irishman, 1939 NW 2nd Avenue. The final theft happened on Thursday, December 29, at Cinemark Theater, 3200 Airport Road. A Dodge Ram pick-up truck was stolen from the parking lot between 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The investigating Boca Raton detective, Robert Adams, was notified that a latent print recovered from the Dodge Neon found at the Tri-Rail Station was identified as belonging to Alexander Berrian. Berrian’s print was also recovered from the Dodge Neon stolen from the Irishman and recovered in Lake Worth. On January 3rd, Detective Adams contacted detectives with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Task Force to check on the status of Berrian and was told he had just been picked up on their charges. Detective Adams interviewed Berrian at the Sheriff’s Office and learned that he was involved in the theft of all four cars stolen in Boca Raton and with dumping the Neon at the Tri-Rail station.

Boca Raton Detectives charged Berrian with four counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle and one count of grand theft, for stealing tools that were in the Dodge Ram stolen from Cinemark Theater. As certain vehicle models are very easy to steal, citizens should research their cars and take appropriate steps to prevent theft.

Arrested:

Alexander Berrian
16 years old
Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Several women fall victim to distraction schemes

Boca Raton, FL – Over the last several months, five different residents of the City of Boca Raton have become victims of distraction schemes. The most recent crime happened on Wednesday, December 28th in the Estate Section of Boca Raton.

The victim, who lives in the 2100 block of Banyan Road, answered her door at about 2:30 in the afternoon and was greeted by a man who said he was doing work on her neighbor’s fence. The man told the victim he needed her to show him the property line so the fence would be in the right area.  The victim told police the man was very convincing so she met him in the backyard of her residence. The victim said that for several minutes he spoke Spanish with someone on his cell phone.  After about 10 minutes, he told her he had to leave and that he would be in touch.  When the victim went inside her house, she saw that it had been burglarized and several thousand dollars worth of jewelry and silver had been stolen.  The victim immediately called Boca Raton Police.

In three of the previous distraction burglaries, the suspect also convinced the victims to accompany him into their backyard while an accomplice burglarized the house, taking cash, credit cards, and jewelry.  Deerfield Beach has also experienced three similar crimes in the past several weeks, the most recent one occurred less than two hours after the one yesterday in Boca Raton.  In the most recent Deerfield Beach cases, the suspect was described as a heavyset Hispanic male and two heavyset white males, driving a newer model, silver, four-door Cadillac.

Unfortunately, crimes of this sort are not uncommon in South Florida.  The Boca Raton Police Department encourages people to remain vigilant, never leave your doors unlocked and always ask for proper identification when dealing with workers at your home, or before allowing anyone you don’t know into your home.

              Suspect:            Hispanic male, 40 to 50 years old

                                          Appx. 5’7” tall and 200 pounds

                                          Brown hair, brown eyes, and a goatee

                                          Wearing a white t-shirt and pants