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. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin