Rash of Violent Robberies in Lake Worth: Old People Targeted, Gold Chains Ripped Off Necks, Hispanic Immigrants Targeted, Beaten

In the space of five days at the end of August and beginning of September, a number of white and Hispanic residents of Lake Worth were attacked, robbed and some beaten badly by between one and five black men. The incidents are alarming because they occurred in different parts of the city to average people who seem to have been just going about their lives.

Most notable is the ripping of gold chains from the necks of two different women in two different incidents -- one on 12th Avenue North and one on 15th Avenue North. Both women were at their homes at the time.

A yellow gold Hand of God
necklace, similar to the
one that was torn off a
woman's neck on August 28
by a robber.

The first of these crimes was on August 28 when a woman answered a knock on her door to have a yellow gold necklace ripped off her neck by a black man who was an acquaintance of her granddaughter. On August 29 an 86-year-old woman returning home from visiting her husband at the nursing home was robbed by a black man who smashed through her car window as she sat in her driveway, ripped the gold chain off her neck, grabbed her purse and sped off with his accomplice in a maroon car. Also on August 29, a black man grabbed a woman's purse containing $1200 and ran. On August 31, a black man attacked a woman walking out of Harry's Banana Boat on North Dixie Highway in Lake Worth, pushed her down and ran off with her purse. But it gets worse.

In the early morning of Saturday, September 1, a Hispanic man walking on 12th Avenue South had five black guys ages 18-20 pull up beside him and ask for a cigarette. Then one jumped out of the car and took a swing at him. The Hispanic man ran down the alley and the black guy who'd swung at him chased him, with the four others following in the car. They caught up to him and beat him with their hands and kicked him with their feet, then took his wallet, phone and $10.

The same group of five black guys did the same to a white guy on North Dixie Highway an hour later, again beating the man with their fists and kicking him with their feet to get his cell phone and money. Sheriff's deputies spotted their car shortly after and arrested all five. They denied that they robbed and beat the men, but when two were placed in a room together, one said to the other in Haitian Creole: "I can't believe we got caught, when we had such a good night." As of today, two of the five had been released on bond ($10,000 and $11,000), with three still being held at the Palm Beach County Jail.


Nathan Louis-Fils, age 18, of West Palm Beach, was arrested and charged with
two counts of robbery and two counts of battery for attacking, beating and stealing money
and phones from two Lake Worth men on Sept. 1. He was released after posting an $11,000 bond. 

That same day, September 1, two Hispanic immigrants living in Lake Worth were beaten in two separate instances by black men, one of them savagely.

 

A man named Pancho Pablo told deputies a black man he met at the Tropical food market on Lake Avenue in the early afternoon had invited him back to his home to drink a beer. Once inside the home, the man turned on him, saying, "Hey, Mexican, m------ f-----, give me money." Pancho said he gave the man $20 out of fear for his life, but told him: "I'm Guatemalan, not Mexican," at which point the black man punched him in the eye, knocking him down. When he tried to stand up, the man punched him in the face again, knocking him to the floor again. After a scuffle, he managed to get away, but the man followed him, yelling: "Come here, Mexican."

Had enough? So have I. But there is one more incident, and it is maybe the worst. In the early morning on September 1, a 32-year-old immigrant told deputies through a translator that while walking towards his home on the 100 block of South A Street, a black man came out of nowhere and punched him in the face with a closed fist. He fell to the ground where 2-3 more black men punched and kicked him repeatedly while yelling, "Give me your money!" The immigrant began to lose consciousness as he was being beaten and remembered lying face-down on the concrete while the men dragged his body from the street to a nearby house where they left him. He said that he regained consciousness some time later and made his way to his home on South C Street where his family called the sheriff's office. The police report describes the man as having swelling to his entire face and top of his head, with his eyes swollen shut. He had cuts all over his face, teeth broken and knocked out and scrapes on his torso from being dragged. The man said he had been unconsious for most of the day following the attack. His wallet containing $200 had been taken, along with his Mexican ID card and blue Nokia phone. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. The five who were arrested for two other attacks in the early morning of September 1 were not charged in this case.



Frantz Louinasse, age 19, of West Palm Beach, threw the first punch and helped
chase, beat and rob two men early the morning of September 1. He was released after
paying a $10,000 bond.

The information on all of these incidents was contained in a report that was made available to The Lake Worth Sun this month by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The Lake Worth Sun thanks the sheriff's office for providing this information, but wants to ask, now that our worst fears have been realized -- What Can be Done?

The Lake Worth Sun would like to suggest that the most important thing is to speak with moral courage and without malice and insist that the community address this issue and find a way to protect our citizens from violent and unprovoked attacks.