Listed below are selected high-profile and violent cases. Investigations by the Police Officers and Detectives of the Hollywood Police Department have resulted in the identification, capture and conviction of several very dangerous individuals.

If you have any information regarding any criminal activity or any open case, please contact the Hollywood Police Department Criminal Investigations Division.

To visit us in person:
Hollywood Police Department
Criminal Investigations Division
3250 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, FL 33021

To reach by telephone:
Phone #: (954) 967-4411
Fax #: (954) 967-4410

In August of 2007, 37 year-old victim Jason Chorvat was beaten to death after a rendezvous with a prostitute turned violent. The victim's body was found on the ground outside a motel in the 1800 block of Monroe Street.

The victim, who lived a few blocks from the motel, had gone to the motel for sex with a prostitute. They began arguing over price and potential sex acts. The victim refused to leave the room, so the woman called for help from Ellis, who was nearby. Ellis beat the victim on the neck with a mop or broom, and Lockhart punched him in the head numerous times.
 

The Medical Examiner's Office determined the victim died from blunt force trauma to the neck and base of the skull. Initially, investigators had very little physical evidence or firsthand eyewitness accounts, but after witness interviews and a search of DNA databases, enough evidence developed to arrest 17 year-old Terrance Ellis and 53 year-old Delmas Lockhart. Both suspects had extensive records. Lockhart had previous arrests for robbery, assault and failure to appear.

Both suspects were charged with second-degree murder. Suspect Terrance Ellis pled guilty to second degree murder and suspect Delmas Lockhart was found innocent of murder, but guilty of misdemeanor battery.

On 10/24/2006 in an apartment in the 1700 block of Wiley Street, a vulgar comment about his wife prompted 22 year-old suspect Carlos Contreras Mayahua to attack 19 year-old victim Aldolfo Quiagua, stabbing him to death.

Mayahua and two roomates were drinking in their apartment when the victim made a crude reference to sex with Mayahua's wife. Mayahua told Detectives that Quiagua attacked him, pushing him onto a bed and injuring his elbow and thigh. Quiagua then went to his own bedroom. Mayahua subsequently went after the victim, stabbing him multiple times. Some of the other men in the apartment tried to stop Mayahua and Joel Mayahua was stabbed in the hand as he tried to intervene and another roommate, Hernandez, was stabbed in the abdomen as he helped wrestle the knife from Mayahua.
 

Police responded and Mayahua barricaded himself inside the apartment for several hours. Hostage negotiators tried to talk him out, but Officers eventually had to conduct a tactical entry to the apartment to arrest him.

Mayahua was in the country illegally and had been deported once before. After his arrest, Mayahua faced a capital murder charge and two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. At trial, Carlos Mayahua was found guilty of manslaughter and aggravated battery. Sentencing will follow.

In July of 2007, 64 year-old suspect Alfred Eugene Juska had a friend from, 58 year-old Algimantas Bronisas, staying with him for a few days at Juska's apartment in the 1500 block of Arthur St in east Hollywood.

The friend, Bronisas, told Detectives Juska began acting irrationally and drank heavily as the week wore on and was drinking on the night of the incident. Bronisas asked Juska if he was OK, and Juska snapped; Juska went into his bedroom and came back into the living room with a hunting knife, stating to his Bronisas that he had nothing to live for and that he was going to carve Bronisas up. When Bronisas asked him not to hurt him, that he was going to have eye surgery, Juska told him "he was going to gouge his eye out and that he won't have to have any surgery." Juska lunged at Bronisas with the knife. A fight started, but Bronisas was no match for the 6-foot, 230-pound Juska.

Juska stabbed Bronisas in the chest and arm; he then forced him into the bathroom and ordered him to lie down in the bathtub.

Neighbors heard the disturbance and called Police. When Officers arrived, Juska told officers everything was OK and refused to allow them inside. When Officers saw a handgun in Juska's waistband, Juska pulled it out and fired at them. Officers returned fire and called for back-up. The SWAT Team, a hostage negotiator and other Officers soon arrived.

Juska went back into his bathroom; he pointed the gun at Bronisas and said he was going to kill him, other people he had a vendetta against, Police Officers and then himself. At about 3 am, Juska went to the front door to shoot at officers again, but police were able to shoot him.

Bronisas heard Juska groaning and moaning and left the bathroom to grab the gun that had fallen from Juska's hand. He hid it and called police, telling them them Juska was down.

The standoff lasted for about four hours, with Juska firing at Officers multiple times. The charges against Juska included aggravated battery, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Alfred Juska Pled guilty and received 11 years incarceration and 4 additional years probation.

In January of 2007, the body of 40 year-fold victim Kathleen Ann Werle was discovered bruised and partially clothed near an elementary school in east Hollywood. The body was dumped there by 27 year-old convicted suspect Johnathan Gallo.

Gallo's girlfriend stated that Gallo came home with blood on his face, hands, and clothing. "He was very upset and said, he did a very bad thing to someone," she told Detectives.

Gallo told Detectives he met an unknown woman in Hollywood and they drove to an area near the inter-coastal water way in his truck where an argument ensued. The victim punched Gallo in the face. Gallo stated that he used a handgun to strike Werle in the head. Gallo then drove to the school where he dumped her body.
 

The victim died due to blunt force trauma to the head. Johnathan Gallo was found guilty of second degree murder with a weapon; he faces life in prison at sentencing.

On December 18, 2005, Demetrius Carey (shown here in a previous corrections photo), followed 56 year-old victim Elena Carrasco to her residence in the 5500 block of Washington Street. The victim was robbed and shot in front of her apartment.

Surveillance video footage and testimony from several sources lead Detectives to Carey. Additionally, items stolen during the robbery/murder that belonged to the victim were subsequently found where Carey was residing.

On May 28,2008, a Broward County Jury found the defendant, Demetrius Carey, guilty of second degree murder and robbery. In June, a Florida judge imposed a life sentence.

On Oct. 23, 2005, during the hours before the impact of Hurricane Wilma, 19 year-old victim Andres Romero was in east Hollywood helping his mother put up hurricane shutters in preparation for the impending storm. Hollywood Police Officers responded to a disturbance call at the the location just prior to 8:30 pm. When Officers arrived on the scene, they observed suspect Kirk Cartwright leaving the victim's apartment complex and he was stopped for questioning.

The victim's mother told Officers that two men burst into her apartment, covered her eyes and bound and robbed her. Her son, Andres Romero, was shot and killed during the incident. Officers found jewelry stolen from the victim's mother and a bullet like the one that killed the victim in the possession of Cartwright.

Kirk A. Cartwright (shown here in a previous corrections photo), had been released from prison less than 2 months earlier, after serving time for previous charges of Armed Robbery and Uttering a Forged Instrument.

Cartwright has since been found Guilty on all charges relating to the Hollywood murder, including Violation of Probation, Carrying of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Armed Burglary, Armed Kidnapping, and Felony Murder.

The second suspect has also been identified and has since fled the country. There is currently an active warrant for his arrest.

Curry then came to the couple's home to intercede and got into an argument with Hale (who was 43 at the time). During the argument, Hale pulled out a gun and shot Curry on the front porch. Lapage, 41, was grazed in the shoulder by a bullet as well. Curry was dead when Officers arrived.
 

Mark Hale is currently incarcerated by the Florida Department of Corrections and is not scheduled to be released until the year 2036.

On September 20th, 2006, the 3 suspects shown above in their booking photos attempted to gang-rape a 39 year-old woman who had fallen asleep sitting on the beach near Buchanan Street at about 3:30 am. The woman was awakened by a man holding her down while another man tried to rape her. The woman fought back fiercely, and was able to us a piece of broken glass to slash the face and chest of Hever Ramos, Armando Moncadaramos then jumped on her and punched her in the mouth, causing a severe laceration and a swollen jaw. All three men assaulted the woman before running south on the beach.

Officers spotted the three men on the beach just north of Hollywood Boulevard and upon approaching the suspects and ordering them to stop, all three ran. A perimeter was set up and a K-9 search ensued, locating the suspects a short time later. The woman positively identified the men.

All three suspects, Hever Ramos, Cesar Luis Amador and Armando Moncadaramos, were 21 years old at the time and were charged with sexual battery. Two of the suspects, Ramos and Amador, have since been found Guilty of Attempted Sexual Battery and both also face deportation proceedings. The third suspect, Armando Moncadaramos, is still awaiting trial.