West Palm Beach police officers arrested in car burglaries in Jupiter, FLORIDA

WEST PALM BEACH —

The police department opened an internal investigation and placed two of its officers on administrative duty Thursday after they were arrested and charged with vandalizing two cars in a Jupiter parking garage during a drunken night on the town.

In a terse prepared statement, Police Chief Delsa Bush said the department "takes this situation seriously and will immediately begin an internal investigation."

Bush did not elaborate on the incident or on the officers — Christopher Clark and Timothy Pike.

The two were released Thursday morning on their own recognizance and ordered by judge Ted S. Booras to have no possession of, or contact with, alcohol.

The two were arrested after Jupiter Police received a call about 2:30 a.m. Thursday from witnesses who suspected cars were being burglarized in the parking garage at 1140 Edna Hibel Drive, according to police spokesman Sgt. Scott Pascarella.

When police arrived, they found Pike and Clark standing between a 2007 Mitsubishi Galant and a 2010 Toyota Tundra that had scratches and mirrors ripped off. One vehicle had the gas door torn off, police said.

They were discovered by the owner of the Toyota, Michael Stuve, as he was leaving work. When Stuve asked them what they were doing, Clark told Stuve the truck was his. Stuve immediately called for help to the owner of the Galant, Stephen Murphy, who was also leaving work.

When Murphy returned with police, they found mirrors, and other pieces and parts of the cars on the floor of the garage, totaling more than $1,000 in damage, according to the police report.

It was only after the two were arrested that police learned that Clark, 26, and Pike, 30, are West Palm Beach police officers, Pascarella said."

Rumor has it, and the rumor is so dad-gumbed persistent that I'm reporting upon it without a shred of bloody evidence. Except, well, except for this story. Rumor has it that the biggest car-theft rings in the Gunshine State are run by the South Florida police.

And one of my closest friends, Gene, is proof positive of why I like Southerners so much. Life hands them a lemon and they just go about making some damned good lemonade.

"Well yer better off with a cop stealin' your vehicle, after all. Least ways ya'll know he'll just take the car and won't be killin' you for no good reason."