Town’s vice mayor arrested

Guns, alcohol found at scene

Drinking with a loaded Glock on hand didn’t end well for Ocean Ridge vice mayor Richard Lucibella and police Lieutenant Steven Wohlfiel, according to authorities.

Saturday night ended with Lucibella, 63, briefly jailed after police say he poked a cop in the chest and wound up on the ground with an eye injury after a struggle. Wohlfiel, 48, found himself under investigation by his own department. According to the police report, Lucibella and Wohlfiel were “obviously intoxicated.”

An officer responded to the area after Lucibella’s neighbors reported hearing gunshots. The officer walked to the back of the home and found Lucibella holding the loaded .40 caliber Glock handgun. Wohlfiel was with Lucibella. There were beers and mixed drinks near them.

The responding officer said he watched as Lucibella put the gun on a chair and sat down on it. The officer grabbed the gun and found seven rounds inside, police said.

Scattered among the beers and mixed drinks on the patio were several .40 caliber shell casings, according to the report.

The officer asked Lucibella about any other guns. Lucibella gave up a small handgun he pulled from his back pocket, police said.

Neither man claimed

ownership of the guns, said police chief Hal Hutchins

Lucibella started getting upset during the questioning and wanted to go inside his home, where officers said they knew he had more guns, according to the report.

Lucibella tried to get past an officer standing in his doorway and started poking the officer in the chest when he wouldn’t move, police said.

No charges were listed for Wohlfiel, one of two lieutenants in the small police department. His rank is just under Hutchins.

Lucibella was charged with use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, resisting arrest with violence and discharging a firearm in public. He was booked and released from Palm Beach County Jail after posting $3,000 bail.

Lucibella’s lawyer, Marc Shiner, said the arresting officer, Richard Ermeri, used excessive force on his client, who suffered three broken ribs and a severely injured eye. He thinks Ermeri should be charged with aggravated battery.

Shiner said he’s not condemning the entire police department but just Ermeri, who he calls a “bad apple.”

Additionally, Shiner questions the legality of his client’s arrest.

“There are issues about violating the vice mayor’s rights by coming onto his property and illegally seizing items without a warrant,” Shiner said.

Shiner also wants the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the arresting officer.

Hutchins said reviews are done anytime force is used, including this case. He said he did not know any details about Lucibella’s rib injuries.

“I believe the report speaks for itself,” Hutchins said.

Lucibella