Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2005
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2005 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Andrew Marra, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

JUPITER OFFICER KILLED MAN CAUGHT IN STING

A man killed by police at a motel early Friday morning was shot during
an undercover drug investigation after driving to West Palm Beach from
New Jersey to buy $80,000 worth of marijuana smuggled from Jamaica,
according to court records.

An undercover Jupiter police officer, working with federal agents and
a countywide narcotics task force, shot Donovan Brooks, 40, after
Brooks and an accomplice were ordered to lie on the ground in the
parking lot of the Days Inn at 2300 45th Street, according to records
and sources familiar with the operation.

Records show Brooks was lured to the motel by Michael Ray Roberts, 55,
of South Carolina, a suspected drug dealer who recently had been
arrested and was cooperating with federal Drug Enforcement
Administration investigators. Talking on a cellphone, Roberts led
Brooks and his accomplice to a white Dodge Dakota pickup that an
undercover agent was driving.

Little information was available Tuesday about Brooks, who authorities
said was Jamaica-born but had recent ties to the Toronto area.

"We don't know of any South Florida connection to him," said Paul
Miller, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, which is
investigating the shooting. "This is an individual involved in
criminal activity who happened to be in South Florida."

Law-enforcement officials refused to discuss specifics of the incident
as they continued their narcotics investigation and reviewed the
officer's decision to shoot. But details emerged Tuesday in interviews
with sources and from a court document reviewed by The Palm Beach Post.

Last week wasn't the first time Brooks was accused of buying drugs in
South Florida from the man who set him up, records show.

Earlier this summer, prosecutors allege, Brooks bought 75 pounds of
marijuana from Roberts and another man at the same Days Inn. Roberts
told investigators he and another man had smuggled the marijuana from
Port Antonio, Jamaica, on a sailing vessel called the Barefoot.

DEA agents arrested Roberts this month and persuaded him to cooperate
with their investigation. On Aug. 1, Roberts agreed to place several
calls to people involved with him in the drug trade, including Brooks,
to set up another purchase, records show.

After learning that more smuggled marijuana might be available in West
Palm Beach, Brooks paid $500 to another man, Mickey Miles, 23, to
drive him down from Paterson, N.J., in a rental car, records show.

An arrest report by a DEA agent details how the following events led
to the shooting:

Roberts told Brooks on Thursday to drive to the Days Inn and rent a
room there.

About 12:30 a.m. Friday, Brooks called him back to say he had arrived
and was waiting in the parking lot in a gray Lincoln.

Minutes later, Roberts called Brooks back and told him he had arrived
in the parking lot and was sitting in a white Dodge Dakota. He asked
Brooks to meet him at his truck.

About 1 a.m., agents saw Brooks and Miles walk toward the pickup.
Brooks walked to the passenger's side and Miles walked to the driver's
side.

Agents stopped them there, identified themselves as law-enforcement
officers and ordered them to get onto the ground. It was then that the
Jupiter police officer fired, killing Brooks. What prompted the
officer to shoot is still unclear.

The Jupiter Police Department would not say Tuesday whether the
officer involved had been placed on administrative leave, as is
customary during investigations of police shootings.

"There is no record of us placing a police officer on leave (this
month)," said Capt. David Bohlman. "I'm not at liberty to discuss an
investigation."

The sheriff's office is investigating the shooting, but the state
attorney's office will make the final determination as to whether the
officer was justified in resorting to lethal force.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin