FLAGLER HOSPITAL MEDICAL STAFF PRESIDENT DR. JAMES. M. GRIMES, M.D. escaped environmental crime prosecution for hacking a 10x30 foot hole in the dune behind his beach house at #2 12th Lane in the City of St. Augustine after Hurricane Irma. See "Physician Heal This Dune -- Bulldozer Damaged Dune, Homeowner Gets FDEP Ultimatum -- Flagler Hospital Medical Staff President, JAMES MICHAEL GRIMES, M.D." here.
In December 2016, Dr. GRIMES demanded that the City of St. Augustine Beach help launder his lawbreaking by joining with him in a permit for an unneeded beach walkover. I compared this chutzpa to a child who kills his parents and asks the court for mercy because he is an orphan.
Led by St. Augustine Beach Mayor Undine George, City Commissioners rightly refused. GRIMES' rash actions risked storm surge and flooding of nearby homeowners, while risking the City's longterm relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach renourishment program.
No one in St. Johns County is EVER prosecuted for environmental crimes, or for white collar crime and corruption.
"That's the way it is" when you elect dull, devious "pro-business" Republicans like State' Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA and Sheriff DAVID SHOAR (who changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994).
Corrupt one-party Republican misrule in St. Johns County is a stench in the nostrils of our Nation, as established by investigative reporting by The New York Times and PBS Frontline.
I have asked LARIZZA for all documents on his latest refusal to prosecute an influential alleged lawbreaker.
Three cheers for the City of St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Robert Hardwick for doing his job and presenting the case to his ex-boss, R.J. LARIZZA.
Is it time for State's Attorney R.J. LARIZZA to retire? Is R.J. LARIZZA a disgrace to the human race?
State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA and Sheriff DAVID BERNARD SHOAR
No charges will be filed in dune damage
A photo provided by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection shows a dune at the end of 12th Lane in St. Augustine Beach after it was restored. A worker for James and Grace Grimes had removed sand from the dune while cleaning up the property after Hurricane Irma. [CONTRIBUTED]
By Sheldon Gardner
Posted Jan 31, 2018 at 5:39 PM
Updated Jan 31, 2018 at 5:39 PM
The State Attorney’s Office of the7th Judicial Circuit won’t pursue charges against anyone for damage to a sand dune in St. Augustine Beach in September.
Bryan Shorstein, spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office, wrote in an email to The Record that the office does not believe the behavior of Dr. James or Grace Grimes or George Leon Smith Jr. warrants criminal prosecution.
“After speaking with the [Florida Department of Environmental Protection], we are satisfied that the dunes have been restored,” Shorstein said.
St. Augustine Beach police forwarded charges against all three people after Smith removed sand from the dunes on the Grimes’ 12th Lane property.
James Grimes said that after Hurricane Irma he and his wife asked Smith to clean up their property but did not reference the dunes, and that the crossover was already there before the hurricane. Smith told a police officer that he only removed sand that had filled back into a crossover that existed before the storm, according to the police report.
Two charges related to taking sand from the dunes without FDEP approval and having someone driving on the dunes were forwarded against the Grimes. Police also forwarded one charge of driving on the dunes against Smith.
After police forwarded charges, the State Attorney’s Office waited for the the FDEP to finish its investigation. After the Grimeses had the dune restored, FDEP decided not to issue a fine.
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