On Sunday, June 1, beach goers were exposed to the 3rd private property

sign on Deerfield Beach, in the last 7 years. This time it is on a stretch south of the pier by 4 blocks and right in front of the main beach parking lot.

It appears to be some private frontage that belongs to a condo on the south

side of the main parking lot.

The Observer has made repeated calls to the seller number on the sign, but has not reached anyone yet. We will run this down by this week’s Observer issue and keep you posted.

Southbound Federal Hwy Lane Closure for Routine Maintenance

Due to the routine maintenance of the trees along Federal Highway, the southbound lane of Federal Highway from the Palm Beach County Line to NE 4 Street, will be closed Wednesday, May 28 from 6 a.m. to noon. The southbound lane is scheduled to re-open at noon weather permitting.

For more information please call 954-571-2670.

Shortly after 3 a.m., BSO deputies were responding to a call from an Oakland Park resident that her car alarm was going off. A BSO sergeant en route to the home saw a Chevy Malibu with dark tinted windows leaving the area at a high rate of speed. The vehicle sped onto Interstate 95 and into Deerfield Beach, where the driver rammed a deputy’s vehicle and continued to flee. In the process, he hit two other BSO vehicles, incapacitating the Malibu. He then bailed out of the car and ran through a relative’s apartment, over a barbed-wire fence and into a field. BSO deputies used the helicopter and K-9s to track him, and he was eventually apprehended. Two of the deputies he rammed were transported to Broward Health North Medical Center. Their injuries do not appear to be serious.  A sergeant driving the third vehicle that was hit was uninjured. The suspect, Derek Fuller (10/21/87), was transported to the hospital for treatment of a dog bite before going to jail. Currently out of jail on bond, he faces multiple charges including three counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding and possession of cocaine. BSO Violent Crimes Unit detectives are investigating the incident.

LHP Cops find stolen car ; burglar asks for ride from BSO Deputy

Early afternoon yesterday, Mar 27,  a stolen vehicle cruised into

Lighthouse Point. The camera system set up to detect  stolen vehicles

did its  job and alerted the desk. A patrol unit was dispatched to that area

and within 6 or 7 minutes, the officer spotted the truck. A black male was

getting into the vehicle with a bounty of stolen goods he had just ripped off

from a house. When the LHP car tried to stop him, he fled. They broadcast an alert

over the BSO radio and Deerfield started placing cars to look for him.

It wasn’t long before the BSO burglary apprehension unit saw the dude and

tried to stop him. He jumped on I-95 and went southbound in the northbound lanes.

In that situation a chase will not happen. The guy panicked and pulled over to try his luck on foot.

When he ran across lanes to the other side, he was blocked by that giant sound wall, so he ran back to the other side.

Then he jumped a chain link fence and walked right up to a BSO under cover car that was staged there and asked the deputy for a ride. The deputy said, “sure I’ll give you a ride” and promptly arrested him.

The deputy gave him a ride to the BSO District 10 station. They recovered thousands in property from

the stolen car on I-95. LHP Chief  Ross Licata  told the Observer “our vehicle recognition system works.”

Thursday, March 6, at 2:45 p.m. heavy rain bands passing through Boca Raton, developed a small twister.  Trees were damaged and several awnings were ripped from their foundation.

PHOTO BY: Jim Wilson

 UPDATE: BSO arrested a 60-year-old Lake Worth man. Rosario Melici, DOB 5/3/53, will face two charges of murder. BSO arrested him Thursday with the help of the U.S. Marshals and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at a Lake Worth Walgreens near his home on E Street. Detectives said victims Barbara and Philip Russo knew their killer.

Sheriff Scott Israel made a special appearance at the beginning of Deerfield Beach Vice Mayor Joe Miller’s District 1 meeting, Thursday night, to announce that an arrest has been made in the double homicide that took place in Deer Creek on Monday.

“This was not a random act of violence. These two unfortunate people were targeted and murdered. It was somebody they knew,” said Sheriff Israel on Nov. 7.

The subject was picked up in Lake Worth a few hours ago, Thursday afternoon, Nov 7.

At this time, only one arrest has been made.

On Nov. 5, the couple’s daughter discovered the bodies of Phil, 88, and Barbara, 78, Russo murdered.

The arrested subject has been charged with first degree murder of the couple and is currently being interviewed by Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) at the Public Safety Building at 260 W. Broward Blvd. before being booked into the Main Jail in Ft. Lauderdale.

See story in full in Nov. 14 Observer newspaper

The men and women of the Broward Sheriff Office are mourning the loss of a dedicated colleague, Deputy Daniel Rivera, who died Saturday night of injuries he sustained in a car crash. He leaves behind a 14-year-old son, Damian Luis Barrio, and many other grieving relatives, friends and coworkers.

Visitation for Rivera will be held Thursday, Sept. 26 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Pompano Beach, 138 NE 1 STreet, Pompano. The funeral is 11 a.m., Friday, September 27 at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, 2401 W. Cypress Creek Road, Fort Lauderdale. Interment is at Our Lady Queen of Heaven, 1400 State Road 7, North Lauderdale.

Deputy Rivera, 32, started with the Broward Sheriff’s Office in 2003. He served in the agency’s Department of Detention until May 2012 when he transferred to the Department of Law Enforcement. He was a road patrol deputy in BSO’s Pompano Beach district. He was driving on Interstate 95 just before sunrise on Sept. 11 when his car left the roadway and hit a tree.

“Our entire agency is feeling the loss of this young, brave deputy who was taken too soon from his family, friends and coworkers,” Sheriff Scott Israel said. “I am praying for Deputy Rivera’s family to find comfort and strength during this time.”

Deputy Rivera was a confident, hard-working deputy who loved fitness, dancing to Latin music, rooting for the New York Mets and being with his friends, family and his girlfriend. He was born in Brooklyn and attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and Florida Atlantic University. Deputy Rivera was an auxiliary police officer with the New York Police Department before moving to Florida at age 19. He attended Church by the Glades in Coral Springs.

Other survivors include his mother, Miriam Cuin, a captain with the New York City Department of Corrections; father, Antonio Cuin, a warden with the New York City Department of Corrections; sister, Jessica Ducos; brother, Carlos Ducos; grandparents, Moises and Maria Hernandez and girlfriend, Andrea Mendez.

BSO dispatch received a call of a breaking and entering at 9:10 a.m. at 2201 Bay Drive in Pompano Beach. A deputy was injured trying to apprehend the suspect on Hillsboro Blvd. and A1A. It appears the suspect hit the deputy with his vehicle causing non life-threatening injuries. A SWAT team moved in on the suspect and removed him in front of hundreds of shocked by-standers

PBFR transported the deputy to Broward Health North.

The suspect is in custody.

BSFR was dispatched to a fire inside the cooking are of the McDonald’s on Hillsborough at 10:21AM Wednesday Morning, July 3rd, 2012. Firefighters arrived to find one of the oil cookers involved. Firefighters quickly knocked down the blaze and pulled the fire outside. No injuries were reported. McDonald’s was evacuated during the knock down. Full Story in Observer July 11th Issue.

UPDATED: 8:08 a.m.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office reports the plane is a 2013 Beach craft.
Pompano Beach spokeswoman Sandra King says the pilot has 35 years of experience flying planes. He was walking around when firefighters arrived at the scene. Rescue workers took him to Broward Health North as a precaution.

BSO deputies are on scene of a small plane that crashed in an alleyway between NE 3 Ave and Dixie Highway, just northwest of Pompano Air Park just before 6:23 a.m. The pilot escaped uninjured and is reported to be the only person on the plane. The plane apparently knocked down power lines, causing a reported outage in the neighborhood. There is a fuel spill that is being contained by the fire department. No injuries to anyone on the ground.