Briefing Room

News Clips

E-Mail the Information Officer

E-Mail the Information Officer

Underage Sales

September 10, 2002

On Friday August 29, 2002 members of Strategic Investigations Unit and State Agents from the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco conducted an undercover operation targeting convenience stores and sales of alcohol beverages to minors. Five convenience stores were visited and four store clerks arrested. Each defendant was charged under Florida State Statue and transported to County Jail. This investigations was conducted under the guidelines of Project Ecstasy.

1. FREEZE - 201 NW 6 Street - Arrested W/F LEALIIEE, Elizabeth 12-03-83
2. FOUR CORNERS - 821 NW 6 Street - Arrested B/F CHARLETON, Formeka 10-30-77
3. SISTRUNK MARKET - 1500 NW 6 Street - Arrested B/M GADIR, Rahama 02-22-72
4. GREEN STORE - 2162 NW 6 Street - Arrested W/M HMIDAN, Ashraf M 03-06-75
5. NADA MARKET - 1300 NW 6 Street - No Violations

TOP

Police tap chemical in clue search

Reprinted from the Palm Beach Post

By Dani Davies, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 25, 2002

LAKE WORTH -- Tom Hill carries an airbrush to crime scenes.

In the places where people are slain, he sprays a fine mist over carpeting, walls and windowsills, over bedsheets, counters and doorknobs.

Then he waits for the violet-hued evidence to present itself.

A crime scene detective with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Hill took his airbrush and a chemical called Leucocrystal Violet to the Lake Worth home of a slain family discovered Sunday night.

The former supervisor of the Lake Worth Police Department's crime scene unit, who was also one of its two crime scene investigators, resigned several months ago, and Lake Worth was left with only one investigator for the most complicated crime scene in the city's history.

The department borrowed a West Palm Beach police investigator, who then suggested asking Hill to help. A Fort Lauderdale police employee for 29 years, Hill instructs other investigators how to use LCV.

In a technique like something featured on the television show CSI, Leucocrystal Violet, also known as LCV, reacts with the hemoglobin in blood. Developed in its current form around 1998 by an Orlando chemist, it is used to enhance latent fingerprints in blood. Hill used about half a 500-milliliter bottle of the mixture Monday in Lake Worth.

He would not say whether he found evidence in the slayings because it is an ongoing investigation. When LCV is mixed with hydrogen peroxide and encounters the hemoglobin in blood, it turns violet. Hill can then see any fingerprints, footprints or other marks left in blood.

For example, if someone walks through blood and across a carpet, a few bloody footprints might be visible to the naked eye. By spraying a mist of LCV over that carpet, Hill could track unseen prints. "It's one of the greatest things I've every used with blood," he said.

Antigone Barton contributed to this story.

TOP

Employees to be Recognized

On Tuesday, October 1, 2002, at 6:00 p.m., the following employees will be recognized for their hard work and dedication:

Police Officer of the Month for September 2002

Officer Gary Meixner

Civilian Employee of the Month for September 2002

PSA Leslie Hartman

The awards will be presented during the City Commission meeting at City Hall, 1st floor, City Commission Chamber. Please join me in honoring these employees for their outstanding performance. Anyone wishing to attend may do so. If attending on duty, please coordinate with your supervisor in advance.

Briefing Room

News Clips

E-Mail the Information Officer