Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Woman thrown into pool is OK; teen suspect on home detention
For Nancy James, her injuries after being thrown to a concrete patio and into her community’s pool by a 16-year-old stranger during an unauthorized, crowded party could have been much worse.
James, 68, a cardiac patient, said Tuesday that she had just come home from the doctor’s office to make sure a twoweek-old stent was not damaged in the incident, which was recorded on cellphone video and went viral.
It was about 7 p.m. Saturday when the retiree, who is on the board of the Players Place residences at Rock Island Road, south of West McNab Road, in North Lauderdale, acted on
complaints from neighbors about a pool party with a loud DJ. The bash had been promoted online.
James, who is about 5-foot-2 and had her two dogs’ leashes in each hand, ventured into the crowd and told the DJ and others to lower the volume.
“I never saw him coming,” she said about the boy who scooped her off her feet. The teen, who is 6-foot-2, dropped her onto the pool patio and then picked her up by an arm and leg. He dragged her toward the water and threw her in, according to the arrest report.
The cheering crowd ran away.
James’ dogs fled, her cellphone was destroyed and, she said, “I didn’t know what was going to happen. He could have tried to drown me, for all I know.”
A tip to Broward County Crime Stoppers led Broward Sheriff’s deputies to the teenager, whom the Sun Sentinel is not naming because he is a minor.
The boy’s mother and attorney Michael Hursey turned him in to the agency’s North Lauderdale district Monday.
The teen was arrested on suspicion of committing battery on a person 65 years of age or older. He spent some time at a juvenile detention center and was released to his mother Monday night, said lawyer Paul Molle, who is also representing the teen.
The boy does not have a criminal history, which enabled him to be released to home detention until Tuesday morning, Molle said.
That’s when mother and son, who live in Margate, appeared before Broward County Judge Carlos Rebollo in a downtown Fort Lauderdale courtroom.
The judge heard testimony that the teenager is a junior at Coral Springs High School who has had some discipline issues at school and gets mostly As and Bs. He plays basketball with a traveling team.
Molle sought to allow the teen to continue to participate in the sports program’s practices and a tournament to be held next weekend in Georgia.
“He’s a fine young man,” Molle told the court.
Prosecutor Abner Laurent did not object to the request, and Rebollo granted it.
“The only reason I’m doing this is he’s doing well in school, and I think extracurricular activities are very important,” Rebollo said.
The judge also ordered the teen to not contact James or any witnesses in the case. He will be on home detention and must wear an ankle monitor. He is allowed to attend school, a place of worship or his basketball activities; the restrictions will be in place at least until his next court hearing June 5.
At the Players Place community Tuesday afternoon, neighbors greeted James with hugs and good wishes. They marveled at the large bruises that had bloomed on her thigh and left shoulder. She said there were more purple and red marks beneath her clothing.
“I’m sore,” she said. “But I have to keep on going.”
Despite her experience, James said, “I have faith in other human beings. Some just haven’t evolved and they have to learn the hard way.”
She said she “kind of ” felt sorry for the teenager.
“This is a hard lesson to learn at 16, but he should know,” James said. “I feel sorry for the parents, the mother. She’s the one that got him to turn himself in. That must have been very hard for her.”
As for the stent, James said: “Everything is in the right place.”
She didn’t know any of the estimated 100 partiers at the pool, but said children in her community helped her get out of the water and recovered her pets, Louie, a 14-year-old cockapoo, and Nellie, 3, a Pomeranian-Chihuahua.
“Thank goodness for the sweet neighborhood kids,” James said.
The teenager and his lawyers will wait to see whether the state attorney’s office will file the same charge as the sheriff ’s office, and prepare for his next court hearing.
“He looks forward to the opportunity to address [James] face to face and personally apologize for the incident that’s taken place,” Molle said. “He’s a good kid and I think time will show that.”
Asked about the video and the behavior it shows, Molle said: “I think the video is the video. It speaks for itself. I think that if anyone reflects on their history as a 16-year-old, we’ve all made decisions and have taken actions that we maybe would look back on and regret.”