Update on the Serial Rapist

Many of the stories last year about the violent serial rapist had a Lake Worth dateline, and identified the rapes as occurring here. After consulting a map, I see that none of them actually did.

But they were close, and this person is a threat to every woman in the Lake Worth area. He seems to strike just when everybody assumes he's gone away. So extreme caution should be taken.

The last woman he attacked was young and fit, and she fought back. But he strangled her and she lost consciousness. Sheriff's deputies warn women not to go out walking alone. But one woman was attacked when she went out on her front porch to have a cigarette. A Palm Springs woman was inside her home, sleeping with her two-year-old. She had a gun in the home, but it was locked up and she couldn't get to it, a detective told me last year.

They have to catch this guy before he strikes again.

The last victim, a 22-year-old woman who was attacked on Sept. 23 while speed-walking on the south side of 10th Avenue around the Esperanza Apartments (very close to the Lake Worth city line) at 6:30 in the morning describes the rapist as being short, five-foot-five or five-foot-six and "pudgy" with shoulder-length dark hair and a Spanish accent. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans when he pursued her and attacked from behind. In their struggle, she bit one of his index fingers. When she woke up, her purse was gone.

This pastel-colored bag was taken from the last victim. Have you seen it?

One of the earlier victims described him as being maybe from Central America, and said he was wearing basketball or soccer shorts. Judging from his height, it's not likely he's a basketball player.

Soccer, soccer, from Central America, short. Had long hair on September 23. Maybe cut it later that day?? Maybe it's grown out now, and is about 8 inches long??

Who is he? Where is he?

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says the investigation is ongoing, but there's been no recent activity.

He's living in our community, or close to it. He's extremely violent, and seems likely to strike again. He must be found before he can. Know anything? Have any information that could possibly help? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Another Fake Lake Worth Story in the Post

Love this headline from yesterday's Palm Beach Post:

Lake Worth financial planner arrested on allegations he defrauded investors out of more than $1 million

...about a guy named Michael Thomas Hardman of 7295 Oakmont Drive, which is on the other side of Greenacres from Lake Worth, off Jog Road, pretty close to the Turnpike.

The Palm Beach Post does not know where Lake Worth is. This is not a story about a Lake Worth man. It is a story about a man who lives out near the Turnpike in Palm Beach County. He has a Lake Worth mailing address, sure. But he does not live in the City of Lake Worth, or even very close to it.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/lake-worth-financial-planner-arrested-on-allegatio/nQQWp/

The Kingdom of Sheriff Ric Bradshaw

Who is Ric Bradshaw? He must be royalty, because no one ever sees him, and you can't get him on the phone. He doesn't talk to anybody. His people operate behind very thick walls and throw out little bits to keep the lazy regional media happy.

But the Lake Worth Sun is not happy. We're ticked at the unwillingness of the Sheriff's office to provide basic, public information about crimes happening here in Lake Worth.



Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw

At District 14, the Lake Worth substation of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, they have a media book. It's a binder, and in it are a spattering of write-ups of incidents -- mostly car thefts. A couple burglaries.

"Where's everything else?" I ask.

You have to get that from headquarters, the woman tells me.

I call headquarters on Gun Club Road. The media relations person, Teri Barbera, puts me on the media list. She indicates that she's very busy and constantly working and sending things out. So I'm thinking I'm going to get a large file every day of everything going on in Palm Beach County, which I can search to find out what's happening here in Lake Worth.

But over the course of the next four days, all I get are press releases saying what good things deputies are doing -- donating school supplies for the kiddos, and so forth. I get one press release each day. At the bottom of the e-mails are links to 175 videos promoting the sheriff's office. I'm not kidding. The one I just opened shows a deputy competing in a motorcycle event where he's maneuvering around orange cones.

I e-mail Teri, asking where the crime log is. She says go to District 14. I tell her I did, and there are only on average three incidents for each day in the media log. There must be over 100 calls for service every day in Lake Worth, I tell her in the e-mail. Where is this information??

I wait, and wait. Many hours later I get a response, with text copied from a query she sent along to District 14, saying YES, we have about 150 calls for service every day.

So that doesn't answer the question at all!

Meanwhile, I've met with Captain Silva, who is the equivalent of Lake Worth's police chief. Except he reports to Bradshaw, and can't really talk about anything that's going on in Lake Worth.

At our meeting, Lieutenant David Moss, who works under Silva, came in and showed me how to access the crime mapping program, which is linked from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's web site, www.pbso.org. There's a map of America, you can put in Lake Worth and see about where crimes are happening here. But not exactly. It says there was a robbery on the 400 block of North "E" Street on Aug. 6, for instance. But where, exactly? And who was robbed? An old lady? Was the robber armed? Is he on the loose? I would call Captain Silva, but he told me when I met with him that he doesn't have time to talk to a reporter about what's happening here.

So it's all extremely unsatisfactory from the point of view of the public's right to know what's happening in their community.

There seems to be a complete lack of understanding, perhaps because the air is thin behind those very thick walls of Bradshaw's, that all of this is public information. The basics -- who, what, where, when (and maybe why) -- of crime in this city is not presumed to be privileged. It is public information, with some exceptions (names of minors, names of victims SOMETIMES but not always) And people want to know. So next week, The Lake Worth Sun will submit lots of public information requests, and letters with lots of CCs. I think Lake Worth Sun readers would be interested to know what kind of information is being kept from them and why. I'll find out.

Capt. Rolando Silva, head of the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office "District 14" -- Lake Worth

Gulfstream Front and Center

The Gulfstream Hotel at 1 Lake Avenue in Lake Worth, with the cleared lot next to it on the corner of Lakeside Drive where someone seems to want very, very much to build another building to add another 100 rooms.

The Gulfstream Hotel was front and center at Tuesday night's city commission meeting with city staff recommending a special "hotel district" be created to allow for perhaps very high heights around the Intracoastal waterway in Lake Worth.

"It's going to take some height for someone to put together an economically viable project," William Waters, the city's development director, told the mayor and commissioners in reference to the Gulfstream.

The Gulfstream Hotel has 106 rooms. It is on the market for $9 million, according to local blogger Lynn Anderson.

The problem seems quite simply not that one can't make money with "only" 106 hotel rooms, but that one can't make money with "only" 106 rooms after having paid $9 million for the hotel!

It's overpriced.

As of Jan. 1, 2011 it was assessed at $2.5 million. The county may have given it a low assessment because it was closed, and not making money. But still. It's not worth $9 million. In 2003 it sold for $6 million. Considering property values have gotten knocked back about ten years, this is probably what it's worth now.

The establishment of a hotel district -- with a much higher height limit than for the rest of the downtown area -- would allow a future (prospective?) owner of the Gulfstream Hotel to follow through with the previous owner's grand plan to build another tall tower in the empty lot on the corner of Lake Avenue and South Lakeside Drive in order to add 100 guest rooms.

My observation has been that large new buildings tacked onto the side of lovely historic buildings are really never a good idea. The value and beauty of the original structure is degraded, and can never be revived.

Veterans Day Parade Coming Back to Lake Worth

The Veterans Day Parade is coming back to Lake Worth this year, with the city commission allocating $8,00 to fund it, and a committee of citizens forming to help organize it.

The parade will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 10, the day before the official Veterans Day on November 11, and will be followed by an event at 3:30 p.m. in the Cultural Plaza in Lake Worth's downtown with speakers honoring the sacifices local veterans have made in serving their country.

Parade organizers are looking to contact all local veterans, in order to include them in the parade and ceremony. Vets are asked to call Juan Ruiz of the city of Lake Worth at (561) 493-2559.

Local businesses are also asked to help in funding the total cost of the parade, which is expected to exceed the $8,000 allocated by the city. Call the city if you think you can help with an in-kind or monetary donation.

And...Can anyone help fund the cost of 1,000 little American flags to pass out to parade participants and spectators? They're only 17 cents a piece. Call Juan Ruiz at (561) 493-2559 if you can!

Early Voting in Palm Beach County and Lake Worth Sun Endorsements

Not that most people have noticed....but early voting for the Florida primary has been underway since August 4.

So far, 633 people have voted at the nearest early-voting polling place -- in Lantana, at the Lantana Library at 4020 Lantana Road.

Hot races:

George LeMieux vs. Connie Mack for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary. The Sun endorses Mack!

Jeff Clemens vs. Mack Bernard for Florida Senate in the Democrat primary. The Sun stands with Bernard!

Judges and also the Sheriff, Property Appraiser and Supervisor of Elections are on both ballots, as these are non-partisan offices. The Sun endorses "Woodie McDuffie" for Supervisor of Elections over incumbent Susan Bucher!

Early voting continues through August 11. The actual election is August 14.

23-Year-Old Shoots Himself With Homemade Gun

"Criminals can get a gun if they want a gun," the head of the Miami ATF office tells the Sun Sentinel. So why did a Lake Worth-area 23-year-old make one with spare parts he found in his dad's backyard? Because he was too broke to buy a gun, and his driver's license was suspended and he was bored out of his skull.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-felon-gunmaker-lake-worth-20120806,0,2833096.story



Manny Garrido of Lake Geneva Drive

Manny Garrido made a .40 caliber handgun that he kept in his pocket. It went off on March 29, and shot him in the leg. After a long investigation, he was arrested yesterday and charged with possessing a firearm as a felon. (Last year, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of drug possession.)


Manny Garriodo's father told police he guesses his son learned how to make a gun from....the internet.

** The Sun Sentinel describes Manny Garrido as a "Lake Worth man." But he was living with his father, according to the article, and Palm Beach County property records show his father's home is a few blocks outside Lake Worth's town limits, at 1120 Lake Geneva Drive. So this is not technically a Lake Worth story. But it's close!

Fort Walton Beach Regrets Name Change

Lake Worth's name was almost changed this summer to Lake Worth Beach. Luckily, clearer heads prevailed. Now, little Fort Walton Beach, a nice community in Florida's panhandle, is wishing it had resisted adding "Beach" to its name back in 1953:

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/opinion/worth-51502-lake-officials.html

According to this, as a result of Fort Walton's name change, the first word in the town's name is often abbreviated as Ft., which doesn't look so nice. Also, many people, including top political leaders, don't use the word "Beach" when talking about the town, referring to it just as "Fort Walton." So it didn't really work out that well.

What's Open, What's Closed

The Lake Worth Municipal Pool before it closed in the fall of 2010

The Golf Course is closed Mondays and Tuesdays in August for renovation of the greens. Play will be on temporary greens all month, Wednesday through Sunday (weather permitting) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Play all day for $18, or $15 if you come after 3 p.m.

The Boat Ramp in Bryant Park is still closed. It is being rebuilt, with floating docks added to replace the old rickety wooden docks. This was scheduled to be completed by September, but work appears to have slowed this summer and there is no word on whether it will in fact be opened next month.

The Boat Docks, Kayak Launch and Fishing Pier at Snook Islands Natural Area, just north of the Lake Worth bridge, have been open since the end of February. There's usually plenty of dock space available, and boaters can walk four blocks to downtown Lake Worth restaurants.

The Beach is open, though with limited parking. You can park below and walk up, or take your chances on limited parking on the upper level across from Benny's or at Kreusler Park on the north end.

The Pool, which the city's web site refers to as offering a "one-of-a-kind oceanfront pool experience" has been closed since 2010 and remains closed with no date scheduled for re-opening.

The Lake Worth Historical Museum on the second floor of the City Hall Annex is now open Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 1-4 p.m.