What started as a late-night tryst ended up in a hospital visit for one couple after a man threatened a deputy with a bottle and was shot, officials say.
It all started about 12:20 a.m. Saturday at Reflections of Boca Del Mar in West Boca, a development off Military Trail where the deputy lives, according to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office.
The off-duty Palm Beach sheriff's deputy went to his complex's pool area, where he found a man and woman engaging in a sex act. He told the couple he was a deputy and asked them to leave the premises. The pair, who didn't reside there, reluctantly heeded the deputy's instruction to leave, sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.
The pair took off, but returned a short time later. The man then approached the deputy, who was sitting on a lounge chair, and "hovered over him in a threatening manner," Barbera said.
The two got into an altercation. When the man raised a wine or champagne bottle to try to hit the deputy, the deputy shot him, the Sheriff's Office said.
The wounded man was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, Barbera said.
Authorities haven't released the names of the deputy or the couple. The deputy was placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol in police shootings. An investigation also remains underway.
A representative for Reflections of Boca Del Mar couldn't be reached for comment Saturday despite phone calls and emails.
Roommates Alex Sikora, 21, and Phylicia Dashoff, 23, said their apartment faces the pool where the shooting occurred.
Both weren't home when it happened, but said they arrived shortly after and were shocked by all of the police and emergency workers.
They both called the apartment complex a nice place to live, with good neighbors and nice management. The complex was the last place both of them thought a shooting would occur.
"I assumed that someone maybe drowned in the lake or the pool, because I couldn't imagine why the pool would be taped off," Dashoff said. "It was really scary to see a ton of cops outside our neighborhood."
Sikora said the pool is relatively small, but is a congregating area for a lot of people. The complex is a mixture of families and young people, she said, and the two women hear people using the pool area frequently late into the night.
She said hours are posted outside the gate of the pool, but are rarely observed.
"There's always people at the pool," she said.
The roommates said although the incident was scary, they feel safe in the complex.
"We love the neighborhood," Sikora said.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
