Chirag Patel Remains Held On Multiple Charges. He Wants Out. Appeals Court To Consider.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Chirag Patel, the West Boca Raton man who remains in the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of burglary and voyeurism, is asking Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals to order his release. And the court is listening. The appeals court gave Palm Beach County prosecutors until Friday to tell the panel why Patel should remain held without bond.
The effort is sure to rile up parents of students at Whispering Pines Elementary School in West Boca where Patel was accused of screaming anti-Semitic statements to staffers, trespassing on school grounds after he was told to leave, and posting comments referencing the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre to social media. Patel was arrested in late August and charged with crimes unrelated to the Whispering Pines and anti-Semitic statements. But prosecutors say the crimes for which he is charged — and his alleged anti-Semitic and threatening behavior — are all related. They told a judge in Palm Beach County that Patel is a threat to himself and the community. The judge agreed. Patel remains held without bond.
Parents of students at Whispering Pines Elementary, where Patel’s child attends school, used a GoFundMe campaign to hire an attorney to represent their interests. The school draws from some of the wealthiest communities in Palm Beach County. That attorney told a judge that parents are fearful of what Patel could do if he is released. But legal experts tell BocaNewsNow.com that the 4th District Court of Appeals likely won’t be interested in what parents think when they consider a very narrow question: “is It acceptable for someone to be held without bond on burglary and voyeurism charges that themselves have nothing to do with anything involving the elementary school?”
The parents cited Florida’s Marsy’s Law in the GoFundMe campaign that sought $15,000 and claims parents are “victims’ of Patel. (Read our reporting, here). But Marsy’s law was largely struck down by the Florida Supreme Court, and legal experts suggest its a stretch to suggest that parents are victims merely because someone is charged with crimes that occurred near a school but not in a school.
Patel’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment from BocaNewsNow.com. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg earlier this month said Patel is dangerous, writing: “This defendant was a danger to the community. That’s why we asked for him to be kept behind bars pending the trial … you have someone out there making specific threats against Jewish families … you have to take it seriously.”
Chirag Patel’s legal team will have three days to respond to whatever prosecutors submit to the 4th District Court of Appeals, which is expected to rule quickly.
