Florida HOA security guard accused of hitting resident with patrol car
Palm Beach County FL June 6 2017 An HOA security officer is facing an aggravated battery charge after a resident accused the officer of hitting him with his patrol car during a dispute about a parking ticket, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
Thomas Kabis, 78, of suburban Greenacres is facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was arrested May 23, the day the incident took place, and released from the county jail the next day on a $5,000 bond.
The incident took place in Pine Glen at Abbey Park, along Forest Hill Boulevard east of Greenacres city limits.
According to a sheriff’s report, investigators say Kabis approached a man making repairs to a car in front of his Glencove Lane home and told him that he was illegally parked and that he was writing him a ticket.
The man said he was working on his vehicle, which had the hood up, the report said. Despite this, Kabis still wrote him a ticket and taped it on the rear passenger-side window. The man videotaped Kabis doing this with his phone.
Kabis then went back to his security vehicle and prepared to drive away while the man stood in front of the car, according to the report. The man told deputies that Kabis “without warning” drove forward and hit him with the vehicle.
The report said the man then jumped onto the hood of the car “to keep from being snatched under the vehicle” and that Kabis stopped abruptly, hoping to shake the man to the ground.
The man said “his head whipped forward striking the windshield” from the momentum of the event and that he held onto a windshield wiper “in fear of his life” as Kabis tried to drive away, according to the report.
Kabis told police that he knew the man was upset when he gave him a ticket, and he was planning to leave without causing an incident. He said he drove toward the man so that he would get out of the way of his car, but he didn’t move and then jumped onto the hood of the car.
Kabis told officers he tried to speed up and slam on the brakes to get the man off the hood of his car. He said he tried swerving to get him off the vehicle but that “he must have some strong fingers.” Kabis said he called authorities once the incident ended.
The victim scrapped his left elbow and said he couldn’t feel the fingers on his left hand, the report said. Medics were called to the scene to tend to his injuries.
Kabis may not work in the community until while the matter is before the courts.
He is set to appear before Circuit Court Judge Laura Johnson on June 29, according to online court documents.
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