3 arrests in 5 months, released on his own recognizance last month and again this week

(As originally published with bells and whistles, Thu, March 9th 2023, 6:21 PM EST)

LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (TND) — A man in Florida has been arrested and then released on his own recognizance twice in the past month.

In fact, Justin Diluigi was arrested three times in Palm Beach County in the past five months.

The latest incident happened Wednesday.

A corporal with the sheriff’s office wrote in the arrest report that an elderly man near Lake Worth Beach “was trying to get home but a neighbor known as [redacted] was preventing him from going home and threatening him.

The victim had been walking his dog and said Diluigi “came out of the garage asked to use his cellphone and he told [Diluigi] that he did not feel comfortable doing so.”

That’s when Diluigi “began to get upset and began to yell.”

The report said he “got in his face and told him he was going to take his phone from him, and he was going to ‘f*** him up.’

The victim with his dog tried to get away while being yelled at and eventually made it home.

The corporal wrote the victim “appeared to be shaken by the incident,” and that Diluigi “appeared to be agitated and was pacing in and out of the house appeared to be upset and advised that nothing happened.

Diluigi was charged with assault on a person over 65 years old. He was booked at 10:41 p.m. Wednesday and released on his own recognizance at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Less than a month ago, in Delray Beach, a police officer wrote that a woman “who had visible injuries [and] sustained a bloody nose” said she “had a verbal discussion with her friend,” Diluigi.

He’d locked his keys in his car, the two were in her car, and they couldn’t agree on whether to call the auto club.

That arrest report said “he stated to her ‘you are not listening to me’ several times, and then punched her in the nose with his right fist. She then got out of her vehicle and yelled for help. He then fled the area.

The officer wrote Diluigi said “he had swung his arm in the air and had hit her phone which caused her phone to hit her in the face. He was upset and stated it was accidental.

But the officer deemed Diluigi the primary aggressor and charged him with simple battery. He was booked Feb. 10 at 1:25 a.m. and released just a few hours later, at 5:34 a.m., on his own recognizance.

Then, last fall near Lake Worth Beach, a sheriff’s deputy was investigating “a suspicious vehicle” at a gas station.

The key was in the ignition and the engine running,” according to the arrest report. “Diluigi appeared unable to stay still. He continuously walked briskly towards or away from us, making big gestures with his hands. When asked to stand, he swayed. He was fidgety, moving his head in all directions. He talked to himself, sometimes mumbling or laughing.

A DUI investigator wrote Diluigi “denied any physical defects before the tasks,” she administered, but “once starting the task complained of his left knee and left big toenail.

Then, she wrote, “He explained he took Molly and had a bad trip and had to go to the hospital today where they gave him Ativan and eventually discharged him.

At the end, “Diluigi refused to perform any further tasks and said: ‘arrest me.’”

Diluigi was charged with DUI on Oct. 19, 2022, and he spent less than 24 hours in jail.

He’s set to be arraigned for the elderly neighbor incident on April 4.