South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 7

SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA LOCAL MS Saturday, February 24, 2001 3B Mom who fled to Cuba faces charge left taped confessions with her family in Key Largo before fleeing. Cuba may never extradite Blanco, but the kidnapping charge will stand, said Aloyma M. Sanchez, spokeswoman for the Attorney's Office in "She is not immune from prosecution because she is in Cuba," she said. If convicted, Blanco could face up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. their son with her ex-husband, Ar-letis Blanco left Florida on Nov.

12 on a 21 -foot speedboat and settled in Cuba. Since then, Jon Colombini has been trying to get his son back. Although a U.S. court issued an order to return 5-year-old Jonathon Colombini to his father, Cuba has no formal diplomatic relations with the United States and has not agreed to respect the order. The two countries have no extradition treaty, and Colombini's lawyer, Michael Berry, said he doubts Blanco, 29, will be forced to face the kidnapping charge in a U.S.

court. In December, Colombini traveled to Cuba to share afternoon visits with his son in the Cuban countryside 90 minutes from Havana. He returned to Homestead alone. On the surface, the Jonathon Colombini case is a reversal of the Elian Gonzalez case. In both cases, a mother fled with her 5-year-old son without the knowledge of her ex-husband.

However, in this case the mother is alive. After Blanco left for Cuba, the Monroe County Sheriffs Office announced she was under investigation for embezzling 1 50,000 from the company for which she worked. Authorities said she had "We don't care about her," he added. "We want the child." Still, Berry, who specializes in child abduction cases, said he was happy that federal prosecutors were making an argument similar to the one he will present in pursuing the boy's return. "We're working on presenting our case to Cuba's judicial organization," he said.

Although he has worked on similar cases where children were taken from countries ranging from England to Saudi Arabia to Japan, Berry said the diplomatic situation between the U.S. and Cuba has made it his most challenging case. PEMBROKE PARK PEMBROKE PARK "i 'Ay a v. iM Digest POM PAN 0 BEACH i Brake malfunction leads to injuries A public school bus with four children on board was struck by another vehicle on Friday when a truck's brakes failed, Broward sheriff's investigators said. None of the children, going to Nova Middle School in Davie, was hurt, though six other people suffered minor injuries.

The truck was headed east at the intersection of South Cypress Road and Sixth Street at 8: 13 a.m. when its brakes malfunctioned, the Sheriffs 1 Office said. Truck driver Kevin Gonzalez, 'i 28, swerved but collided with I the bus and another vehicle. Gonzalez and a passenger were taken to Holy Cross Hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the third vehicle, a Chevy van, and three passengers were taken to Imperial Point Medical Center, also with minor injuries.

FORT LAUDERDALE I Police file charges in stabbing death Homicide detectives charged 1 a Fort Lauderdale man in the stabbing death of another man more than two weeks ago. Detectives used 1 neighborhood contacts to track I down Robert Brown, 46, Friday morning in the 500 block of Northwest 15th Way, according to police. Brown faces one count I of open homicide in the death of John Berrian, 33. Police are asking anyone with information to call Detectives Alan Stone or Mark Shotwell at 954-828-5534. BROWARD COUNTY Three men detained on sex-crime charges Three Broward County men were arrested Thursday and are being held in the Broward County jail on charges of committing separate sexual crimes against children.

David M.Chase, 20, of Margate, was taken into custody 5l by Coral Springs police on v. charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation. Police said Chase forced sex acts on a 6-year-old boy.Coral Springs police also arrested Antonio Manuel Brache, 68, on charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation involving a girl, 3. Brache, of Coral Springs, voluntarily gave investigators a recorded statement, according to an -s arrest report. The third man, Donnie Adams, 40, of Fort Lauderdale, was charged with lewd and j- lascivious molestation involving a 14-year-old girl.

I A I A COUNTY Two killed, four hurt in turnpike accident Two people were killed and two adults and two children 4- were seriously injured about I. 3:30 p.m. Friday when their I minivan crashed and rolled over I Several times on Florida's i. Turnpike, police said. The occupants were headed I southinal993 01dsmobile Silhouette near Bird Road in southwest Miami-Dade County when the driver swerved into I the median and lost control, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt.

Pat Santangelo said. As troopers investigated, the driver of a second vehicle that may have been involved returned to the scene, I Santangelo said. The driver was pinned inside the crushed vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The rest were thrown from the vehicle. A woman, 57, I died on the road, said Miami-i Dade Fire Rescue I spokeswoman LaVerne Guillen.

I A man and woman in their 30s were airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, and a girl, 4, I and a boy, 18 months, were flown to Miami Children's Hospital. U.S. is moving to prosecute her for kidnapping By TANYA WEINBERG STAFF WRITER MIAMI Prosecutors have filed an international parental kidnapping charge against a woman who took her 5-year-old son to Cuba against his father's wishes, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday. Although she shared custody of Hollywood postpones Ocean Dance By KAI T.

HILL Staff writer HOLLYWOOD -The city's most prominent arts event that comes to the beach each spring has been postponed until December. On Friday, the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Com- mission denied coordinators of Ocean Dance 2001's request to 1 stage the dance concert in April 1 because of its threat to the turtle 1 nesting season, which runs from 1 March 1 through Oct. 3 1 Ocean Dance, a well attended concert that showcases internationally renowned dance companies, was founded in 1999 by the Hollywood Art Culture Center in collaboration with the city. Though nesting is low on Hollywood Beach, environmental authorities said the stage setup, consisting of a 25-foot scaffold, two light towers and a sound tower, might prevent nesting if turtles bump into the foundation and return to the water. State wildlife off icials could not be reached for comment Friday.

But a letter addressed to Broward County's Department of Environmental Protection stated: "Structures that are proposed to remain on the beach overnight (including fencing and seating) have the potential to interfere with nesting females." Bright lights from the night concert would also pose a threat to turtle nesting, state environmental officials said. Last year's concert ran into the same problems, but the show went on while turtle activity was closely monitored. Although this year's delay disappointed officials of the Art Culture Center, there may be a silver lining. Moving the event to December, event coordina-torssaid, gives them more time to market the concert that will be expanded to two days this year. "I think your immediate reaction is to be upset when you don't get what you want," said Cynthia Miller, the art center's executive director.

"But it's better in the long run." Miller said she is working with some business partners to beef up marketing strategies to attract more people from outside South Florida. The county contributed $22,000 to the event this year, while the city gave $30,000 plus in-kind services. Rozeta Rad, director of tourism for the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said having the event in December would fill a gap for area hotels that suffer during the slow offseason. Ocean Dance is one of the city's most prized attractions, city officials said. Up to 20,000 people have attended the event each year to see dance companies such as the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project perform.

Local dance groups also participate. Miller said Ballet Florida and River North Chicago dance companies have been booked for this year. Tanya Weinberg can be reached at or 954-385-7923. Inquiry looks at official's payroll By ELLIS BERGER Miami Bureau MIAMI A Miami-Dade grand jury is considering possible misconduct by a county commissioner and two employees whom investigators allege he paid for hours they did not work. Commissioner Pedro Reboredo denies doing anything wrong and is eager for the chance to clear his name, his attorney Milton Hirsch said.

"The state attorney's office is in a quandary and elected to dump it in the lap of the grand jury," Hirsch said Friday. "If the prosecution is confident of criminal misconduct, they can file charges directly." The grand jury, which meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays, recessed for the week without reaching a decision, leaving in doubt the question of whether it will indict Reboredo and the two elderly workers. Another possibility is the jury could issue a report calling for better accountability for staff salaries. "We'll know more if and when there is an indictment," Hirsch said. "The investigation has been going on for many months.

He has not been called by the State Attorney's Office, but his workers were interviewed repeatedly. Commissioner Reboredo is eager to see through to the finish whatever proceedings are necessary to vindicate his good name." The spokesman for State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Run'dle says it is unlikely the office will take any action before the grand jury makes its determination. "Once it's in the hands of (he grand jury, you need to wait for that process to be completed," Ed Griffith said. "It's likely the grand jury will be the final arbiter of how it will be handled." Assistant County Attorney Murray Greenberg said Friday that commissioners have leeway in staff assignments and salaries. "I can tell you that, from what -I've seen in the media, I don't know of anything Commissioner Reboredo has done wrong," Greenberg said.

"Commissioners can handle their office budget and utilize their employees any way they see fit. The commissioner can have the employee work 40 hours a week or 20 hours. And while you and I can think of instances where it would be absurd, like paying someone $5,000 an hour, it's up to the commissioner. "To use an example," Greenberg said, "suppose a commissioner has 1 00,000 a year for salaries. He or she can pay two employees $50,000 each or 10 employees $10,000 each.

Obviously, it has to be an hour's work for an hour's pay, and it has to be for public work. They can't get paid for painting the commissioner's house." Reboredo is accused of paying 1 7,000 to Adelf a Perez-Cruz, 90, and $35,010 to Benito Mongeotti, 78, annually without adequate documentation of the hours they worked. With eight employees, Re-boredo's office budget of $319,222 is third-highest among the 13 county commissioners. At the top is freshman commissioner Joe Martinez's $334,756 for 10 employees, with Jimmy Morales second, spending $323,980, also for 10 employees. Commissioner Miriam Alonso spends the least for her eight employees, $171,01 1.

TO THE TOP: Tim Fernding climbs to the top of the Trinity Broadcasting TV tower in south Broward County on Friday. Rescuers say his climb was to protest Florida's presidential election. Sheriffs deputies grabbed Fernding after he climbed down, staff photocariseitwrt Man scales TV tower to protest state ballot vision station, WFOR-Channel 4, agreed to air the sign. On Friday, Hart called WFOR to tell them that his friend was climbing the tower. In 1991, Fernding, Hart and another man, Mark Gray, were arrested after scaling the tower and hanging a flag and two yellow ribbons from it.

They called themselves patriots, and two judges threw out charges against them. This is at least the third time in a year that men have climbed the tower, which is surrounded by two barbed-wire-topped fences. In April 2000, George Liddy 3 1 dived head-first off the tower and died. The man, who had cerebral palsy, had beaten and stabbed his girlfriend to death 10 years earlier. And in October 2000, Leaton George, 20, a homeless man with a history of scaling tall structures, got more than halfway up the antenna tower before negotiators talked him down.

Department and the Broward Sheriffs Office. "The information we have right now is that this is a political protest," Schildknecht said during the ordeal. "He's requesting new voting booths or ballots." The man's wife and a friend showed up at the tower wearing white T-shirts with pictures of blue license plates that said, "Count my vote." They helped persuade Fernding that it was time to come down, Schildknecht said. Broward sheriff's deputies grabbed the man when he touched ground about 7:30 p.m. and took him to the District One station for questioning.

It was not known whether they filed criminal charges against him or took him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Spokes-people for the sheriff's office did not return calls for comment Friday night. Two weeks ago, Fernding's friend, Bill Hart, 39, holed himself up inside his Plantation home and threatened to kill himself unless police went on the nightly news to show a blue license plate with the phrase "Count my vote." Only one tele- Second-time climber requested new voting booths, rescuers say By SHANNON 0 B0YE and THOMAS M0NNAY Staff writers PEMBROKE PARK A man who scaled the 1 049-foot Trinity Broadcasting television tower 1 0 years ago to unfurl an American flag in support of troops fighting the Persian Gulf War pulled the same stunt again Friday afternoon. Tim Fernding's aim this time: to protest Florida's handling of the presidential election. Fernding, 45, who wore a camouflage shirt and pants and an American flag hat, started climbing the steel tower at 3300 Pembroke Road around 3 p.m.

and reached the top at 4:30 p.m., said Broward County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief John Schild-knecht. He pulled a flag from his waistband, affixed it to the tower and then talked by cell phone with negotiators from the Fire 1 Shannon O'Boye can be reached at or 954-356-4597. Kai T. Hill can be reached at or 954-385-7925. 1.