A swim on a sunny Friday morning in Palm Beach wouldn’t typically be cause for arrest.
But when that swim comes between jumping off of a bridge and then boarding a multi-million-dollar yacht without permission, fighting with police and damaging a police vehicle, handcuffs may be in the future.
Palm Beach Police said that’s what happened starting about 9:15 a.m. June 19. As a result, a West Palm Beach man faces charges of aggravated battery on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, criminal mischief, trespassing and resisting an officer without violence, according to court records.
A town employee first spotted the 55-year-old man on the docks at the Town of Palm Beach’ Marina just south of the Royal Park Bridge, as the man tried to get into several boats, an arrest report said.
The employee flagged down a nearby town police officer, who saw the man trying to board a 96-foot New England Boatworks yacht, the report said. The officer told the man not to get onto the vessel after a marina employee confirmed the man did not have permission, but the man continued onto the boat, the report said.
The officer boarded the yacht and told the man to leave, then escorted him to the marina entrance, court records show. There, the man struggled with four officers as they tried to place handcuffs on his wrists, the report said, noting that two of the officers “received minor cuts and abrasions to (their) right and left hands.”
After being put into an officer’s patrol car, the man kicked the rear passenger door so hard that the door’s frame bent, the report said. Officers took the man out of the car, and he continued to flail and kicked the police vehicle, causing about $2,500 in damage, according to the arrest report. Police said the man also kicked an officer in his right leg.
Where did the man come from before swimming to the town marina? Police said the man jumped from the north side of the middle of the the Royal Park Bridge. Officers cited the man for jumping from a publicly owned bridge, the report said.
Police called Palm Beach Fire-Rescue to sedate the man and take him to Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, the report said.
The man remained at the Palm Beach County Jail on June 24 with his bail set at $17,000, according to jail records.
The incident followed one in December, when detectives said three men stole pricey fishing poles from a boat at the town’s marina. The three 19-year-olds faced charges including grand theft, burglary and trespassing, court records showed at the time. Police found that the men closely followed people with authorized access to get through the marina’s locked gate.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Police say man jumped off bridge, kicked officer at marina
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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By Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News | USA TODAY Network
