PALM BEACH GARDENS POLICE

THEFT

A man loaded several items into a shopping cart at a store in the 3800 block of Northlake Boulevard. He then pushed the cart out of the store without paying for any of the merchandise. One of the store’s loss prevention officers who had been watching the man immediately stopped him outside and brought him back in to wait for police. Before police arrived the man confessed to stealing three items worth over $900. The man was arrested, placed in handcuffs and eventually transported to jail.

A woman’s iPad was stolen from her residence at a facility in the 11300 block of Prosperity Farms Road. The woman had gone to dinner with her daughter and when she returned the device was gone. She said she had left it on her coffee table. The director of the facility said their records showed no one had access to the master key at that time. The iPad was worth $400.

BATTERY

Upset that his bank card via his smartphone wasn’t working, a man became verbally abusive toward the cashier at a store in the 3800 block of Northlake Boulevard. Another customer, standing in line behind the abusive man, told him to "calm down" and to "stop talking to the cashier like that." Already upset about his bank card/smartphone catastrophe, this enraged the man even more. He began yelling and screaming and shot back with "mind your own business." He then began approaching the customer who had come to the defense of the cashier and, after dropping his fit-inducing phone, shoved the man in the chest. The police were quickly called to the scene. Though the anger-management candidate claimed he was the one who was attacked, surveillance video showed he was the aggressor. The victim did not wish to prosecute and the angry man was free to go.

JUPITER POLICE

BATTERY

Upset over their current topic of conversation, an intoxicated man grabbed his girlfriend by the hair and pulled her backward, causing her to fall to the ground. A bartender at the establishment in the 1100 block of Love Street leaped over the bar to intervene. Before he could separate them, the man managed to strike his girlfriend in the face. A police officer then approached the man and was punched and shoved. The officer quickly took the man to the ground and, with assistance from the bartender and another employee, restrained him. The man was placed in handcuffs. While in a holding cell at the police station, the man shouted, cursed and banged on the cell door asking to be released in order to fight the officers. He was arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer, domestic battery, resisting an officer with violence and violation of injunction.

While eating at a restaurant in the 100 block of North U.S. 1, a man was approached by another individual and slapped in the head. The victim responded immediately by throwing coffee on his attacker. The perpetrator then left the business and was last seen walking north on U.S. 1. A review of video surveillance of the incident showed the pair had had words prior to the head slap. Police searched the area for the perpetrator with negative results.

THEFT

A man and a woman entered a store in the 2100 block of West Indiantown Road and began selecting pieces of merchandise. Those items included beer, alcoholic soda, cheese, sleep aids, fireworks, a mattress and more. They then proceeded to the customer service counter where they fraudulently returned several of the items. They then took the remaining items and exited the store without paying. The fraudulently returned items netted the pair nearly $60 and the stolen items were worth over $200. They were last seen driving away in a sedan. The store’s loss prevention officer was able to give police detailed descriptions of the pair and their vehicle and said the store would prosecute if they are found.

OPEN CONTAINER

A man was seen consuming beer outside a convenience store in the 800 block of West Indiantown Road. When officers arrived, they found the man sitting on the curb outside the store and he had gained a companion and was sharing a beer with her. They were both arrested and later released with notices to appear.

NORTH PALM BEACH POLICE

BURGLARY

A woman’s storage unit at a facility in the 400 block of Northlake Boulevard was illegally entered and approximately $4,000 worth of property was stolen. The woman said she believes her ex-girlfriend was the perpetrator and that it was done out of spite. The woman said she saw surveillance footage from outside the facility and recognized her ex’s vehicle. Among the items taken, the woman said there was approximately $2,500 in jewelry, $350 in tools, important documents, furniture and more. The woman also stated that she is trying to get away from her ex and wants nothing to do with her. The case is being investigated by the department’s detective bureau.

MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

As a man and woman left a restaurant in the 2900 block of Northwest Federal Highway in Jensen Beach, they were confronted by a man wielding a firearm. The gunman pointed his weapon at the pair while yelling at them. He then walked away and drove off. Deputies arrived at the scene and spoke to the victims. The woman explained that the man she was with at the restaurant was her ex-boyfriend, while the gunman was her current beau. She said she in fear for her life as the gunman, with whom she’s been living for about a week, yelled profanities and acted aggressively toward her and her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend told a similar story to the deputies. A deputy spoke to the gunman, who admitted he pulled a gun but claimed it was in self-defense, as the other man was bigger. He said he found the pair at the restaurant because he put a tracking device on his girlfriend’s vehicle. He was arrested and taken to the county jail.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

RESISTING ARREST

When deputies went to a dance club parking lot in the 8200 block of South U.S. 1 in Port St. Lucie to break up a melee, the patrons dispersed. One woman decided the party wasn’t over for her and refused to leave. When threatened with arrest, the 19-year-old got into her car and started chatting on her cellphone. Several more times she was ordered to leave, but she said she didn’t have to. She was arrested. When ordered to get out of her car, she refused. Deputies subdued her with pepper spray, removed her from the vehicle and took her to the county jail.

CONCEALED WEAPON

Deputies stopped a speeding vehicle in the 3000 block of Commerce Centre Drive in Port St. Lucie. The 34-year-old driver was found with a Sig Sauer semi-automatic 9mm handgun, loaded with one round in the chamber and five in the magazine, strapped on his lower left leg. A second gun was found in his vehicle between the driver’s seat and center console. The second firearm had one round in the chamber and seven in the magazine. The driver did not have a license to carry a concealed weapon. He was arrested and taken to the county jail.

DRUGS

Heroin, pot, drug paraphernalia and seven rounds of 9mm ammunition were found at a residence in the 1700 block of Southwest California Boulevard in Port St. Lucie. Two men at the residence were arrested and taken to the county jail.

PORT ST. LUCIE POLICE

HOME BURGLARY

While the occupants were sleeping, a man entered a home in the 2400 block of Southeast Wishbone Road. He stole an iPad, laptop computer, headphones and jewelry. He also took car keys, then drove off in a car belonging to one of the residents. He left the neighborhood at a high rate of speed, which attracted the notice of police who gave chase. The burglar crashed the stolen car and took off on foot. The 22-year-old suspect, a Boynton Beach man, was arrested later in Martin County after he committed another burglary to an occupied home and stole a vehicle. Some of the items from the Port St. Lucie burglary were recovered.

THEFT

After returning several items without a receipt at a store in the 1800 block of Southwest Gatlin Boulevard, a man went to the electronics department, took two tablets out of their packaging and stuffed them in his pants. He also hid a speaker in a plastic bag in his cart. He was stopped after he passed by the cash registers without paying for the $223.20 worth of merchandise. The man, who claimed he was homeless and needed the money, was arrested and taken to the county jail. The money card he was given in exchange for the returned items was kept by the store’s loss prevention office after the man admitted the items were stolen from the Boynton Beach store.

FORT PIERCE POLICE

BATTERY

A man invited to an apartment in the 500 block of North 27th Street got into an argument with one of the residents. When he began punching her in the face, she fell to the floor and he got on top of her. The woman’s girlfriend pulled him off and told him to leave. The man left, but he came back moments later and smashed a window. He also pushed in the air conditioner, breaking it. Police arrested the 30-year-old man and took him to the county jail.

THEFT

As a loss prevention employee watched, a man shopping at a store in the 5100 block of Okeechobee Road used a box cutter to open packages of Magic The Gathering cards. He removed the cards and stuck them into a box of envelopes. The man then went to the self-checkout counter and purchased the box of envelopes. He was detained by a police officer as he was leaving the parking lot. The stolen cards, valued at $77.92, were recovered. The 50-year-old man was arrested and taken to the county jail.

Police arrested a pair of shoplifters after they stuffed merchandise into their backpacks at a store in the 5100 block of Okeechobee Road and left without paying for the items. Among the stolen items were men’s boxer briefs, toothpaste, denture adhesive, a pain reliever, bandages and a charger cable. The merchandise totaled $243. The 43-year-old man and his 52-year-old companion, both homeless, were taken to the county jail.