Investigation underway read more
Waiter Paul Kucik is suing vulture investor John Castle over an incident in a Palm Beach club in which Kucik says Castle broke his left ring finger while calling him a “schmuck” — simply for handing him the check!
Castle-Harlan CEO John Castle
– Click here to read the lawsuit
Castle, 76, a multi-millionaire known for his buying the Kennedy political clan’s Palm Beach compound and for his abrasive treatment of the help, allegedly took umbrage to Kucik trying to get paid after Castle’s wife, Marianne, requested the check.
Club Colette is a private restaurant in which clients can be charged monthly.
Kucik, 57, refused to press criminal charges after the Jan. 7 incident but filed suit on Jan. 17 alleging that Castle showed “reckless disregard” for his safety.
“Defendant Castle, without provocation or warning, intentionally grabbed Plaintiff Kucik’s left hand and began twisting, bending and squeezing Kucik’s fingers, causing a fracture,” the complaint reads. “Castle’s conduct was of gross and flagrant character, evincing a reckless disregard for the plaintiff’s safety.” (more…)
A serval, a shy mid-sized African wild cat, preferred the bushes in The Breakers' courtyard to center stage (Click on the Mike Jachles photo for the event gallery)
Since some in Palm Beach’s high society won’t go to the zoo – it is, after all, located on the, Gasp!, west side of the bridges – some of the exotic stars were brought to the island’s social jungle for the yearly Palm Beach Zoo gala.
– Click here for the event’s photo gallery (and remember, they’re for sale)
Friday’s sold out black-tie event at The Breakers raised about $1,000,000, and allowed the 400-plus guests to mingle with some of the zoo’s friendlier creatures in the courtyard during the cocktail hour.
The animals included three parrots, two owls, an African crested porcupine, a serval, a sloth named Wilbur, several large lizards and two New Guinea singing dogs. Yep, singing dogs. Can climb up trees, too.
(PS: I was kidding on the video about guests eating the singing dogs! No animal was harmed during the event and most didn’t seem bothered by the attention!) (more…)
It's only January, and Michael Phelps looks ready for London 2012 (Click on the photo for more beach photos)
Look who’s haunting South Florida’s pools!
Swimming hero Michael Phelps, the proud owner of 16 Olympic medals, has been training for the upcoming London Olympics in Fort Lauderdale. But he recently took a break and materialized surf-side in Miami Beach sporting what’s known as a horseshoe mustache.
– Click here for more celebrities on the beach
While he should leave the stache to Hulk Hogan, the rest of Phelps’s body looks ready for more medals — and the half dozen ladies who tried to chat him up, without much success. (more…)
The saga of the mysteriously-removed Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office SWAT commander could turn out to be a hot potato for Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in an election year.
A day after Gossip Extra revealed that Lt. Dan Burrows was on family leave to treat an alleged addiction to pain pills, agency officials now say they’ve placed Burrows on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation.
One of the allegations against the 46-year-old Burrows is that he used powerful narcotics prescribed to a cancer-stricken former deputy whom Burrows visited shortly before his death!
– Find out first: Click here to register for the Gossip Extra dirt alerts!
Burrows, a 17-year veteran, reportedly developed his addiction after using pain killers for an on-duty injury.
“Lt. Burrows is the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation and he’s on administrative leave,” said PBSO Spokeswoman Teri Barbera. “And where he possibly obtained drugs is being looked at. Remember, these are just allegations.”
The “rat squad” now has six months to submit its report to the sheriff, who’s up for reelection. (more…)
Simpson leaving the courthouse in Las Vegas in 2008 (Click on the photo for the South Florida homes of celebrities)
Peta, the media-savvy People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is asking JP Morgan Chase Bank to donate O.J. Simpson‘s Kendall house, which the bank is trying to foreclose, so that the animal-loving group can open a “Meat is Murder” museum there.
Peta's Newkirk, with actor Alec Baldwin on a recent red carpet (Splash News)
Gossip Extra earlier this week broke the story that Simpson, who’s serving up to 33 years in a Nevada prison for robbery and kidnapping convictions, has fallen behind on his mortgage payments on the suburban Miami home. He owes upward of $720,000 and the bank filed a foreclosure action in a Miami-Dade County court.
– Be the first to know: Click here to register for the Gossip Extra dirt alerts
The Los Angeles-based Peta today fired off a letter to the bank CEO Jamie Dimon asking for the house once it’s seized.
– Flori-duh: Banks wants to foreclose on OJ Simpson’s house but can’t find him
“This museum would encourage visitors to choose nonviolent vegan meals over those that cost millions of cows, pigs, fish, chickens, and other animals their lives,” the animal-rights group spokeswoman said.
Peta boss Ingrid Newkirk explained in her letter that, in addition to the murders in 1994 of Simpson’s ex-wife and restaurant waiter Ron Goldman and the 2007 robbery in Las Vegas that landed him behind bars, the former Buffalo Bills owned chicken restaurants and HoneyBaked Ham stores!
More from Newkirk’s letter:
“Many wonderful flesh-and-blood individuals — who feel pain and fear as acutely as humans do and who value their lives in much the same way— are knifed to death every day for nothing more than a fleeting taste of flesh. (more…)
Special State Prosecutor Dave Aronberg, a former state senator who represented parts of South Palm Beach County for eight years, is set to announce his candidacy for Palm Beach County State Attorney at 2 p.m. today.
Aronberg
Democrat Aronberg’s announcement is to be made alongside several police chiefs, including Riviera Beach’s Clarence Williams, on the steps of the historic courthouse, downtown West Palm Beach. Former state Attorney General Bob Butterworth is also expected.
“I’ve been interested in this job for a long time,” Aronberg said. “I almost ran in 2008 but at the time many people were behind McAuliffe.”
With fellow Democrat and current State Attorney Michael McAuliffe announcing this week that he dropped out of his reelection campaign, and with no Republican candidate in sight, Aronberg could be elected by just putting his campaign papers together.
The boyish Greenacres resident Aronberg, 40, is currently the state’s pill mill czar. As state attorney, he’d be running a team of lawyers who represent the citizens in criminal cases.
For more about Aronberg and McAuliffe:
– Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw to Dave Aronberg: Don’t run for State Attorney!
– Radio talk show host files ethics complaint against State Attorney Michael McAuliffe
– Top prosecutor worked for violent cop freed by state attorney
– Lawyer of cop in beating video contributed $ to state attorney’s campaign
– Did state attorney attempt to break into critical website?
– Sources: Powder in attack on state attorney mailed from state prison
Chalmers
Baby mama troubles are behind spunky Miami Heat three-point artist Mario Chalmers!
Miami-Dade County records show the four-year veteran guard was found to be the father of a 20-month-old Kansas girl who bears the beautiful first and middle names of Queen Elizabeth.
Chalmers, 25, who played his college ball at the University of Kansas, agreed to a $2,600-a-month child support and pay the mom, a student, arrears totaling $12,800.
– Click here for all the photos of Dwyane Wade’s 30th birthday party
There are little details about the woman, other than she made $800 a month prior to the deal.
Neither her lawyer nor his deigned returning calls for comment.
Chalmers’s financial affidavit, meanwhile, paints a much rosier picture. (more…)
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