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Surfside Man Arrested After Alleged Drill Threats on Private Beach

He remains jailed without bond on felony counts.

Overview

  • Yacov Jacques Levi, 50, allegedly threatened beachgoers with a power drill at the Solimar condominiums' private beachfront in Surfside on Wednesday.
  • Police say the dispute began when he was denied a resident-only beach chair, after which he tried to swing an umbrella, charged a man, and yelled "I'm going to kill you," with some witnesses reporting he stripped.
  • Body camera video shows officers confronting Levi at gunpoint and with Tasers as he sat on a beach chair while ordering him to put his hands up.
  • Officers report he refused commands, rolled in the sand, kicked an officer, and used a drill with a large sand auger bit to bore a hole in a beach chair, causing about $500 in damage.
  • He faces attempted aggravated battery, battery on a law enforcement officer, and criminal mischief charges and is held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond; court records say he has not entered a plea.