The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 24

2B THE PALM BEACH POST TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1995 Schwarz acquitted of abusing girl ET A judge rules there wasn't enough evidence to prove the extent of harm. By JAY CROFT Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Jessica Schwarz, on trial for the murder of her 10-year-old stepson, was acquitted Monday on a related charge that she abused her daughter, now 5. Schwarz was convicted last year of six counts of abusing the boy, Andrew "A.J." Schwarz. Her second-degree murder trial start i iX ed last week and continues today. Prosecutors also had charged her with witness tampering and child abuse.

They said she picked up her daughter, Jackie, and told her not to talk to investigators about death. But Circuit Judge Karen Marks said there was not enough evidence to prove the girl had been permanently injured, and acquitted Schwarz of the abuse charge. Also Monday, Palm Beach County medical examiner Dr. i James Benz called by the de-i fense testified that an autopsy 1 revealed A.J. drowned, but he could not "state with medical cer- Pool photo by JIM death of her 10-year-old stepsbnt daughter Jackie covers her face.

i Georgia last week testified that hej "personally" believed the death was a homicide but he couldn't sure "professionally." Jessica Schwarz, on trial in the is led into court Monday as her tainty whether it was an accident, a homicide or a suicide. No one has brought me sufficient evidence to change my mind." The boy's naked body was found in the family's pool in May 1993. A state-hired examiner from Staff Writer Christine Stapletont contributed to this report. LANNIS WATERSStaff Photographer Palm Beach County Sheriff's Sgt. Donna Kidd investigates the site where four stolen cars were found Monday morning.

The cars were found in a wooded area off Skees Road south of Okeechobee Boulevard. Complaints about police drop in '941 Summit Boulevard will be closed from the C-51 Canal to Parker Avenue from 7 a.m. Monday until 5 p.m. April 21 for reconstruction of the CSX railroad tracks. Traffic will be detoured via Parker Avenue, Southern Boulevard and Congress Avenue.

Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach will be closed from Datura Street to Fern Street through Monday for the Palm Beach Boat Show. Evernia Street will be closed through April 7. A man was shot and killed about 10:25 p.m. Monday as he was moving into a house at 5369 Mobilaire Drive in suburban West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County sheriffs deputies said. Witnesses told deputies the killer drove away in a white pickup after arguing with and shooting the victim, who was not identified.

RIVIERA BEACH Varrick Lamont Davis, 22, was charged Sunday with the Feb. 11, 1994, murder of Roger Jackson after a fight, city police said Monday. Jackson was shot at the Imperial Plaza, 1500 W. Blue Heron Blvd. Davis, who lived at 1805 W.

Blue Heron Blvd. at the time of the shooting, is being held without bail at the Palm Beach County jail on a second-degree murder charge. Another officer, Thomas Boyce, was fired thi? month for allegedly tossing aside a key piece evidence when he investigated a 1994 assault. He is appealing his firing, police said. Altogether, police investigated 26 complaints ill 1994 compared with 30 in 1993.

Included in those, were 68 allegations that officers broke the law violated a major department policy. Of those, 28 were substantiated. Investigators determined 22 com plaints were unfounded and could not substantiate? 13. The most common complaint was that officer conducted themselves badly, followed by abusive language. The department also saw a rise in the number oJ bites by police dogs.

In 1993, dogs bit 15 people an caught 101 suspects without biting. In 1994, number of bites rose to 28 and the number of arrests! without bites to 107. By JENNY STALETOVICH Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH Police received fewer complaints about officers in 1994 but substantiated slightly more of those than in the previous year, according to a year-end compilation of internal affairs reports released Monday. The department also had a drastic increase in arrests where force was used. Police Chief Billy Riggs attributed the rise to the more frequent use of pepper spray by officers.

Police began using the spray to subdue suspects in August 1993. As a result, Riggs said, the number of arrests where officers used force rose from 129 in 1993 to 223 in 1994. However, he pointed out, the number of injured officers and suspects dropped. Only one officer was fired in 1994, when he reportedly used his position to try to meet a woman, police said. f3lrrT Mayor: 1 suspected in Braves player's death By JENNY STALETOVICH Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH Investigators have narrowed their search for the killer of an Atlanta Braves replacement player to a single sus West Palm Beach City Commission actions Monday: ECHO LAKES: To the delight of residents crowding the meeting chamber, commissioners agreed to start for a second time the procedures needed to close Echo Lakes Drive at Congress Avenue.

FLAGLER DOCKS: Commissioners agreed to ask the Florida Inland Navigation District to split the $75,000 bill for permits to build docks off South Clematis and Evernia streets. The city is pursuing a $2 million plan to add docks to increase access to downtown. MAYOR'S SALARY: Commissioners confirmed a decision made in September during budget discussions to increase the mayor's salary in April to $85,000 a year from $70,000. The mayor also receives $13,175 in retirement benefits. TOURIST BOARD: Mayor Nancy Graham, plagued by attendance problems during her three years as the city's representative on the Tourist Development Council, gave up her place on the TDC to Commissioner Mary Hooks.

Commissioners confirmed Hooks' appointment. SPRINGBROOK COMMONS: Commissioners approved $468,000 in incentives to bring a 144-unit, $10 million affordable housing complex to 10 acres on the southeast corner of Haverhill Road and 45th Street. The city would donate 1.5 acres valued at $200,000, provide fill dirt valued at $200,000 and waive a $68,000 utility hookup fee. WPOM LEASE: Commissioners voted 4-0, with Sarah Nuckles absent, to approve a 40-year lease of 12 acres to WPOM-AM 1600. Mar-A-Lago club nears opening Just a few niggling items remain before owner Donald Trump officially applies to open his club in the former Mar- RIVIERA BEACH A man riding his bike across the Florida East Coast railroad tracks was struck and killed by a northbound freight train Monday evening, police said.

The man, who has not been identified, had stopped his bike on the tracks at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Old Dixie Highway to wait for a southbound train to pass when he was hit by a northbound train. A rabid raccoon found in the Jupiter Farms area is the third rabid animal identified in the unincorporated subdivision in the past 12 months, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control Director Dennis Moore said Monday. Countywide there have been eight rabies cases among wild animals in the same period. A dog killed the latest rabid raccoon near 120th Avenue and the carcass tested positive for rabies on Saturday, Moore said. The dog had previously been vaccinated and is now under a 90-day home quarantine.

JUPITER The Jupiter Theatre, which sustained up to $500,000 in damage in a Friday fire, will reopen April 18 with Sally Kellerman and Mame, theater owner Richard Akins said Monday. Performances that have been canceled include Cabaret, Robert Klein, Bobby Rydcll, Phyllis Diller and Marilyn Michaels, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Ticket holders will receive letters outlining their options, Akins said. Donations are being sought to help the financial strain on the theater, Akins said. Checks can be mailed to Jupiter Performing Arts Co.

1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter, Fla. 33477. Three Palm Beach County people were among the first 10 to win Jeep Cherokees in a Florida Lotto promotion of those who mailed in coupons after buying $5 worth of tickets: Steve Jones, 42, and Toni Howard, 44, both of West Palm Beach; and Louis Furmansky, 68, of Palm Beach. The Lottomobile contest continues through April 25.

pect, Mayor Nancy Graham said Monday. But Police Chief Billy Riggs remained vague about the case. He said officers are 1 heard three shots, then saw Shotkoski run south across a vacant field at One CIcarlake Centre before stumbling in bushes. Police have set up a tips line to handle calls about the case. Anyone with information should call 653-3480.

Police added another $5,000 to a $5,000 reward for information established by the Braves. "We'll pay for information. We always do that," Sgt. John English said. "We just don't want to talk about it because we don't want to discourage or throw anybody off." Since the shooting, investigators, in the belief that word has already spread on the streets, have scoured the area for witnesses and contacted informants.

Witnesses told police they saw the shooter flee on a yellow mountain bicycle and described him as slight in build. In Shotkoski's hometown of Hoffman Estates, 111., his family faced a tough day of going through his personal things that were returned from West Palm Beach, said friend Tim Skaggs. A daylong wake will be held today, followed by burial on Wednesday. Friends have also established a trust fund for the couple's 8-month-old daughter, Alexis. For more information, contact the Harris Bank of Barington, 201 S.

Grove, Barington, 111., 60010 or Katherine Warman at 708-382-5800, extension 5303. From Tequesta through Boynton Beach and west through Wellington call 820-451 1 and enter one of these codes. Martin and St. fucie counties call 337 0511. Elsewhere, call 930-2511.

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And they really didn't affect us, but you can certainly put this in that category. "We've got as good a detectives as anywhere and I'm confident they'll crack this one." Pitcher Dave Shotkoski was shot several times just before dark Friday during an after-dinner stroll on a service road near the Ramada Inn where he was staying with other replacement players. Investigators suspect the shooter was trying to rob Shotkoski when the ballplayer tried to run away. Witnesses told police they jorie Merriweather Post estate: landscaping, check a few door locks, refinance the mortgage, etc. Trump donated "preservation easements" and $100,000 Sunday to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to guarantee that cer Publix robberies may be linked WEST PALM BEACH Tobacco companies are asking a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge to dismiss Florida's $1.4 billion lawsuit against the industry.

The state sued on Feb. 21 to recover the expenses of treating Medicaid patients with smoking-related illnesses. Tobacco companies have outlined several objections in motions filed Friday and Monday. The suit makes claims based on the market share held by different tobacco companies. But attorneys for Brown Williamson Tobacco Corp.

and other firms have asserted that the market share theory can be used only if the manufacturer cannot be identified. It's possible to know which brands were smoked by Medicaid patients, attorneys said. Meanwhile, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco lawyers said the lawsuit was "fatally flawed" and Philip Morris Companies attorneys said the state lacked jurisdiction over the firm. PORT SALERNO Investigators believe armed robberies committed Sunday night at Publix stores in Port Salerno and Te-questa may be connected.

white, about 5-feet-5 and more than 240 pounds. Witnesses said he had straight dark brown hair and was wearing a light-colored, short-sleeved shirt and dark baseball cap. In Tequesta, witnesses described the gunman as white, about 5-feet-8 and 220 pounds. He had brown hair and was wearing a striped shirt and a blue baseball cap, they said. Staff writer Joe Drogan contributed to this report.

tain rooms, views of the lake and ocean, the entrance gate and other features aren't altered after he deeds the estate to the club. He also agreed to a once-a-year public viewing. Of course, he gets a nice tax deduction now that he won't get when it's a club. Tim O'Meilia Commissioner: Chief must go Police Chief Billy Riggs has got to go, declared City Commissioner Howard War-shauer at Monday's commission meeting. The call comes after the city's 12th slaying this year.

It is the first time a public official has called for Riggs' ouster since he took office in 1987. But the only public official who has a say is Mayor Nancy Graham, and she's not saying. War-shauer is less than a year away from his first reelection campaign in a majority-black district that includes the city's high-crime zones. He urged the mayor to adopt the ideas found in Charleston, S.C., by conducting a nationwide search for a black replacement for Riggs, who is white. And the new chief should be required to live in the city's newest low-income housing complex, Freshwater Lakes, Warshauer said.

Joel Engelhardt Daylight savings this weekend While some people hate to give up their time, they'll have to this weekend. The start of daylight saving time the spring tradition of adjusting time ahead one hour is Sunday. The annual ritual that means an hour less sleep occurs early in the morning the first Sunday in April. CELLULAROIQ' customers call 51 1 Regular air charges apply. A heavy-set gunman forced the manager and two clerks at the Cove Plaza Publix on U.S.

1 to open the office safe and put several thousand in A service of The Palm Beach Post and The Real Yellow Pages. OKEECHOBEE Man's effect on Lake Okeechobee will be the subject of a seminar sponsored by the South Florida Water Management District April 5 at the Okeechobee High School Auditorium. The same presentation also will be April 11 at the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center in Belle Glade. Both presentations begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by question-and-answer sessions with biologists.

WEST PALM BEACH Pete Rhodes, director of the Everglades restoration office for the South Florida Water Management District, will address the Audubon Society during its annual meeting and potluck supper April 4 at the Garden Club Center in Dreher Park. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. The meeting follows at 7:30. Heat Hiahliahts pT bag ThesusPect around 7:30 p.m., Martin County sheriffs officials said. About 30 minutes later, the Publix at Tequesta Shoppes on U.S.

1 was robbed by a handgun-wielding man matching the same general description, although some details differed, police reports said. The gunman in the Port Salerno robbery was described as Full-court coverage from Miami as the Heat hosts the Boston Celtics. The ftin Beach fljst MRB.