Around South Florida with Elgin Jones 07-19-12

INVESTIGATE ROMNEY
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney embarrassed himself while addressing attendees at the NAACP’s national convention recently.

Romney’s ridicule and criticism of the nation’s first black president before a predominantly black civil-rights organization was simply dumb or a well-planned slight. Would he take the same approach before a Jewish or Asian group under similar circumstances? I doubt it. Romney was booed and was clearly shocked at the reaction he got. One can only wonder whether he mistook attendees of the country’s oldest civil-rights group for his Republican cronies. While Romney was embarrassing himself at that event, new information was being disclosed about his tenure as CEO of Bain Capital, a company he founded. He has come under fire over the company’s history of laying off workers to increase profits and shipping jobs overseas. Romney has repeatedly stated that he was not responsible for what Bain Capital did since he left his CEO position in 1999. However, the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission confirm Romney was CEO beyond that time and that he signed Bain Capital reports submitted to the regulatory agency for three years after he supposedly left the company. Now his campaign says Romney “retroactively” retired from the company, which is a ridiculous notion. Either he was CEO or he should be investigated to determine whether falsified reports were submitted in the company’s SEC filings, which would be a crime.

Palm Beach County

TAKING NO CHANCES
Ric Bradshaw, 64, is defending his seat for Palm Beach County Sheriff as if he was in the fight of his political life, even though his opponents are relatively unknown. They include Joe Talley, 68, a Republican turned Democrat who retired from the Baltimore County Police Department and has worked for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Cleamond Walker, 61, and Kevin Coleman, 29, are write-in candidates. Bradshaw, a former West Palm Beach Police chief, is constantly in front of cameras, in the newspapers, on radio and at other venues. He has overwhelming recognition and has sewn up of most the endorsements.

NEGLECT CHARGES
Ryan Agnew, 34, and his girlfriend Stephanie Beine, 31, were arrested on child neglect and sexual battery charges. Agnew is accused of sexually abusing his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter. The couple also allegedly neglected to bathe, feed and properly care for four other children, authorities say. Acting on a tip, the Department of Children & Families opened an investigation. All of the children have been placed in foster care. The girlfriend is denying the allegations and says her daughter made it all up.

Broward County

XXX-RATED POLITICS
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, a Republican, is leading all potential contenders in fundraising in his re-election bid. He will face either Scott Israel or Louis Granteed, who are running in the Democratic primary. A photo is circulating that shows Lamberti at a recent fundraiser held for him by gay organizations, including the nonprofit GLBT Alliance. It was held at J. Marks Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.

The photo shows Lamberti posing with Michael Albetta, president of the GLBT Alliance and former president of the Dolphin Democratic Club, and attorney George Castrataro. Also in the photograph is Victor Zepka, owner of the Boardwalk Bar, a gay male strip club in Wilton Manors. The bar’s website is listed as having “triple xxx-rated,” sexually explicit material. The photo is raising eyebrows because Albetta is a Democrat and the vice-president of the GLBT Alliance is Ron Mills, another Democrat, who is supporting Granteed. Conservative Republicans are questioning Lamberti’s affiliations with Zepka and at least one church pastor says he is concerned. See the photo here.

DEPUTY ARRESTED
Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Gerald Wengert, who starred in the Unleashed: K-9 Broward County reality TV show, has been arrested. Wengert, 33, a deputy since 2004, is charged with one count of falsifying an official record, one count of falsifying a report and one count of battery. He is accused of pulling over Mark Visconti, then 17, beating Visconti and siccing his K-9 on Visconti after Visconti had a parking dispute with Wengert’s girlfriend. Wengert then arrested the teenager on trumped-up charges of resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer, according to the probable cause affidavit. Visconti suffered multiple injuries. Broward State Attorney Michael Satz should upgrade the charges to include at least an additional charge for Wengert’s bloody attack and another for his K-9 attack in which he claimed he had difficulty getting his dog to release from biting Visconti. Beating up a child and having a trained attack dog bite his face is simply despicable.

Miami-Dade County

SUSPECT CAPTURED
Brandin Gonsalves, 23, was arrested by an alert Sweetwater police officer, Kevin Serrano, who saw him wandering in the town’s business district after hours. Gonsalves was wanted and on the run over his alleged stabbing death of his brother, Gerard, in West Palm Beach. When the officer asked for identification, Gonsalves told him he was wanted. Gonsalves is suspected of stabbing his brother 65 times on July 10. He is charged with murder and auto theft. Book ’em, Danno!

POLICE SHOOTING
A Miami-Dade police officer shot and killed Timmie Williams after, police said, he refused to drop a knife he was holding. Police said officers arrived on the scene to find John Fisher on the ground suffering from a stab wound to the stomach and Williams standing nearby with a bloody knife in his hand. Fisher was taken to the hospital, where he was listed in fair condition.

PLAYERS SUE
Four current and former NFL players have filed separate lawsuits against 2201 Collins Fee LLC, the developer of the Residences condominiums on South Beach. They are Washington Redskins defensive back DeAngelo Hall, Redskins offensive tackle Jammal Brown, St. Louis Rams running back Cadillac Williams and Keiwan Ratliff, a cornerback in the United Football League, who also played for the Cincinnati Bengals. All are represented by attorney Aaron Resnick, whose complaints state the players put hundreds of thousands of dollars down as deposits as far back as 2006 but the project was delayed and plagued with fines and liens, so they asked for their deposits back, which the developer refused to give.