Zachary Cruz’s lawyers want official held in contempt
The head of the Broward Sheriff’s Office probation department called an ankle monitoring service every 10 minutes on Saturday to learn whether Zachary Cruz was violating his probation, according to court papers filed late Monday.
David Scharf, executive director of community programs, and head of the department of probation for BSO, unilaterally had Cruz’s ankle monitor set to go off whenever he entered Broward County, even though that restriction was not one of the conditions of his probation, according to Cruz’s defense lawyers, who are asking a Broward judge to hold Scharf in contempt of court.
Cruz, 18, is on probation for trespassing at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in March, the scene of his brother’s deadly rampage a month earlier. Cruz moved to Virginia on Sunday, but wanted to visit his mother’s grave in Fort Lauderdale the day before.
When he reached his mother’s grave, his ankle monitor began to go off, according to defense lawyer Mark S. Lowry.
“Mr. Cruz was very scared and worried over being arrested for violating his probation when he had not done anything wrong,” Lowry wrote. “It was because of this fear that Mr. Cruz ... quickly ended the visit to his mother’s graveside prematurely.”
Officials from Nexus Services, the Virginia-based company providing Cruz with a job and a place to stay for the next year, contacted the monitoring service to find out why the ankle monitor was signaling a violation.
The manager of the service
said “one of her monitoring technicians, named Dan, had been receiving calls from Mr. Scharf every 10 minutes that Saturday [regarding] Mr. Cruz’s whereabouts and whether any violations had occurred,” Lowry wrote. “Mr. Scharf [stated] that ‘technically’ there was no restriction on Mr. Cruz being in Broward County, but that he personally wanted to be able to track Mr. Cruz, know when he was in Broward County, and when he had left the area as well.”
Cruz was not to go within a mile of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to Broward County Judge Melinda Brown. There was no restriction prohibiting him from entering Broward County.
“Mr. Cruz could not have a meaningful visit at his mother’s graveside for the first Mother’s Day weekend after her passing, solely because Mr. Scharf wanted to track, and violate Mr. Cruz for something that was not against the law,” Lowry wrote. “As such, this Honorable Court must punish conduct offensive to the public and ensure Mr. Scharf clearly understands he is not above the law.”
The sheriff’s office, citing policy, declined to comment on pending litigation.
Scharf already wrongly accused Cruz of violating his probation earlier this month by coming within 25 feet of the parking lot of a school in Lake Worth, according to Cruz’s lawyers. Cruz was prohibited from being present at any school in which he was not enrolled, but there was no prohibition on being near a school. Prosecutors dropped the violation claim.
Cruz received permission last week from Brown to move to Virginia, where he will remain on probation for six months. Any violation can land him back in a Broward jail.