BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A man was thrown to the ground at Red Reef Park after a stranger demanded his cell phone, and it took more than a year — and a DNA match — for police to make an arrest. Boca Raton Police arrested Stewart Jay Schiff, 61, on April 1, 2026, charging him with attempted robbery and battery on a person 65 years of age or older.
According to a Boca Raton Police probable cause affidavit, the incident happened on Jan. 29, 2025, at 1400 N. Ocean Blvd. The victim, identified as Kevin Meaney, was walking along the boardwalk toward the beach when a man began yelling at him. When Meaney tried to photograph the suspect with his cell phone, the man told him, “You’re going to die old man,” and demanded the phone. The suspect then charged at Meaney, grabbed him by the arm and upper back, and threw him onto the boardwalk — causing abrasions to his right knee, left leg, and right elbow. Meaney threw his phone into nearby bushes to keep it from the attacker, who then fled. Meaney was 72 at the time.
The break in the case came through DNA. Crime scene investigators collected swabs from Meaney’s shirt sleeve and hat, which were submitted to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab. A profile developed from those swabs was run through the CODIS national DNA database and matched Stewart Schiff — a man Meaney had separately learned about from a park ranger who described a similar prior incident. A search warrant was obtained, and confirmation DNA swabs were collected from Schiff in December 2025. In late March 2026, the crime lab reported the results provided “very strong support” that Schiff’s DNA was present on both items.
Schiff was located at the same Red Reef Park address on April 1 and taken into custody without further incident. He faces felony charges of attempted robbery and battery on a person 65 years of age or older.
