MARGATE, Fla. – Officer Neil Sohn reported he recently arrested two teenagers, because they raised his "alarm" and "fear" for "the persons and property" in an area of Margate.
Sohn was on a routine patrol near the intersection of West Palm Drive and West Atlantic Boulevard. The teens were walking on West Palm Drive about 3 a.m.
As he approached them Saturday morning, Sohn said the teenagers, who were wearing black hoodies and shorts, "went behind a palm tree" and then back into the roadway.
"Their actions, the time of day, and the fact that both do not live in the area" caused Sohn to arrest them for loitering and prowling, Sohn wrote in his report, adding that aside from providing their names and date of birth they "both refused to answer any questions."
One of the teenagers, Delucca Rolle, was probably afraid. It was his third arrest in four months. The first arrest in April made nationwide news and the second arrest was after he ran away from police officers.
"My son is still a little fearful of the police," the teen's mother, Clintina Rolle, said earlier this year, while discussing the April case.
A viral video showed a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy slamming the 15-year-old student's head into the pavement outside of a McDonald's restaurant in Tamarac, where J.P. Taravella High School students were gathered and there was a fight.
Although he wasn't involved in the fight, he was pepper-sprayed, punched and handcuffed. Prosecutors didn't charge Delucca, but the viral video of his arrest caused such outrage the three deputies involved were charged.
Delucca's attorney, Sue-Ann Robinson, of Ben Crump Law, told Local 10 News that the teenager is considering wearing a bodycam, as he is still dealing with the psychological trauma of being beaten and falsely charged.
"This isn't about whether he has a curfew or not. He was walking in his neighborhood with a friend, which is legal and lawful," Robinson said.
Sohn, who allegedly did not know Rolle's past, said the teens provided their names and their dates of birth, so he used that information to search for them in both state and national crime information center databases, which revealed they live in neighboring North Lauderdale.
"Several attempts were made to obtain information regarding parents or guardians so I would be able to contact them for both," Sohn wrote. "Both refused to provide the information."
Delucca was arrested in June in Lauderhill and he was accused of being a passenger in a car that had been stolen in Margate. He ran from police officers and was arrested for resisting an officer without violence.
According to Robinson, Delucca said, "He was being taunted, asked by officers: Why aren't you running this time?"
Robinson said Delucca is now both a victim and a target. The deputies in the April arrest are contesting the charges and the Margate Police Department denies the accusation that Sohn was targeting the boy.
"We are fighting these cases and want the truth to prevail," Robinson said.