7Investigates has learned about car burglaries happening where you\u2019d least expect \u2014 next to a jail. Some of the vehicles are potential evidence in pending criminal cases. The night team\u2019s Heather Walker has the exclusive. From the air, this field full of mangled and damaged cars looks like a junkyard. The lot is behind a BSO jail in Pompano Beach. But the vehicles here are not junk \u2014 they\u2019re evidence.<\/p>\n
This is where BSO stores cars involved in homicide and traffic homicide investigations. Now, 7News has learned that on May 30th, detectives discovered someone cut through a chain-link fence and burglarized 10 cars. Michael Gottlieb: \u201cIt\u2019s a definite concern that those vehicles that are obviously being held for evidentiary purposes have been violated one way or the other, and that there was a failure to secure the lot appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Gottlieb is one of six defense attorneys who received this notice from prosecutors, letting them know about the burglaries. His client, Julius Clark, is currently in jail, charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter for a deadly crash in January. The car detectives say Clark was driving at the time was one of the cars burglarized. Michael Gottlieb: \u201cIn all honesty, until I digest all the evidence in my case, including this newly discovered evidence, I have no idea if it\u2019ll have any effect.\u201d A car involved in this crash was also burglarized. Frantz Laine is accused of driving at speeds up to 112 MPH before causing a wreck that left two people dead in Tamarac back in 2023.<\/p>\n
While some might find this breach in security concerning, the Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office tells 7Investigates: \u201cProsecutors do not believe the burglaries will have any effect on the cases\u2026\u201d because \u201c\u2026All evidence collection and testing\u2026 was completed prior to the reported burglaries\u2026\u201d Michael Gottlieb: \u201cIt\u2019s almost offensive, because when they say evidence and testing has been done on the vehicles, that\u2019s from the state perspective. If we were talking about blood and the blood wasn\u2019t stored in the right way, the state wouldn\u2019t have that response.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state also says key pieces of evidence, like deployed airbags and items with DNA, were removed prior to the vehicles being moved to the lot. A lot Gottlieb is now calling into question. Michael Gottlieb: \u201cI mean you have to scratch your head and say with all the cameras and all the law enforcement that\u2019s going on, and somebody\u2019s able to do it successfully twice, that there\u2019s a serious security failure.\u201d Heather Walker: \u201cYou heard that correctly. We learned the fence was cut not once but twice. In an email obtained by 7Investigates, a BSO lieutenant wrote that after the hole was repaired, the fence was \u201cdamaged and breached again\u201d. She called for deputies to conduct extra patrols of the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Gottlieb: \u201cIf any of these vehicles were damaged in a way that a defendant can raise a reasonable hypothesis of innocence, those cases are at jeopardy. I understand that a lot of people are going to say, \u2018OK, these are attorneys just, you know, making a mountain out of a molehill.\u2019 When you have somebody\u2019s life on the line, it\u2019s not a molehill.\u201d BSO turned down our request for an interview but told us there have been no arrests made in the case.<\/p>\n
The burglaries of cars behind a BSO jail in Pompano Beach have raised serious concerns about the security of evidence in pending criminal cases. While the Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office believes the burglaries will not affect the cases, defense attorneys like Michael Gottlieb are not convinced. The incident highlights the need for increased security measures to protect evidence and ensure the integrity of the justice system.<\/p>\n
Q: Where did the car burglaries occur?
\nA: The car burglaries occurred in a lot behind a BSO jail in Pompano Beach, where cars involved in homicide and traffic homicide investigations are stored.
\nQ: How many cars were burglarized?
\nA: 10 cars were burglarized.
\nQ: What was the response of the Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office to the incident?
\nA: The Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office stated that prosecutors do not believe the burglaries will have any effect on the cases because all evidence collection and testing was completed prior to the reported burglaries.
\nQ: Have there been any arrests made in the case?
\nA: No, there have been no arrests made in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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