Chicken man

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He spends his days ferreting out fraudsters cheating on their property taxes. He courted danger for years as an undercover agent, reeling in drug traffickers under then-Sheriff Nick Navarro. He was talked about as a future sheriff.

After a lifetime in law enforcement, Ron Cacciatore now finds himself on the other end of a criminal investigation, one with roots in the most mundane of South Florida scraps – a neighborhood association dispute.

The accusation: that he keyed the car of a Weston homeowners association president outside a meeting, leaving deep double scratches down the passenger side of her 2003 Ford Focus.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is investigating whether Cacciatore committed a felony. Broward State Attorney Michael Satz asked the governor to transfer the case because he and Cacciatore know each other well. Cacciatore is the head fraud investigator at the Broward Property Appraiser's Office, and before that was a captain at the sheriff's office, where he worked for 14 years and was Navarro's right-hand man.

A Broward Sheriff's investigator cited video that shows Cacciatore standing next to the gray hatchback of 73-year-old association president Jacqueline Puglisi.


A Weston homeowner association president found her car scratched after a community meeting. Courtesy photo. (handout / Sun Sentinel)
"Based on the totality of my investigation, I determined that Cacciatore was the only person at the scene of this crime ... that had the opportunity, ability and motive to intentionally damage Puglisi's vehicle,'' his report says.

Cacciatore doesn't even live in the neighborhood. His 43-year-old stepdaughter, Christine Lynn Ragsdale, does.

Police and court records show their quarrel with the Village Homes at Country Isles in Weston has been ugly, spanning the tenures of two homeowners association presidents. Much of the sparring was over Cooper and Calvin, Ragsdale's 15-pound poodles, accused of running around without a leash, the records say.


Ron Cacciatore says his step-daughter had to pay to restore this garden to its prior appearance. She created it in her back yard, but it was in a common area, breaking the rules. (handout / Sun Sentinel)
The five-year clash has been punctuated by hair pulling, biting and restraining order requests.

Cacciatore, 62, and his wife, Diane Cacciatore, 59, both on the property deed with Ragsdale, have been deeply involved in her neighborhood strife.

He's no stranger to sparring. Between 1989 and 2014, Broward court dockets show Cacciatore, his private investigations company, his wife or stepdaughter have filed more than 25 lawsuits against other individuals or companies. He's now threatening to sue Puglisi over "her enforcement of the community's rules against his daughter,'' Puglisi told the sheriff's office.

But Cacciatore says he didn't scratch Puglisi's hatchback. He called the situation a "nightmare.''

"It's hurtful,'' he said of the accusation. "... But I'm not going to let them get away with it. Basically, it was a setup.''

Those who know Cacciatore laughed at the accusation that a former cop and private investigator who once took down organized crime figures would stoop to such a low.

In his years in the public spotlight, Cacciatore has fended off far more serious accusations of wrongdoing.

A federal corruption investigation into his finances and association with convicted drug dealers blossomed into a federal case alleging he defrauded his wife's dying uncle of $157,000. He and his wife were indicted in 1993, but a judge ultimately threw the case out, saying it was too weak.

Federal agents in 1993 also investigated Cacciatore's role as president of a nonprofit organization created by Navarro, after Cacciatore hired a convicted drug dealer to build a gym for disadvanted youth. Cacciatore had helped arrest the drug dealer in years past, then helped him get a reduced sentence for cooperating. The convict pocketed $182,250, but the gym never was built.

"It doesn't fit,'' Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said of the vandalism claim. "You're talking about a guy who played in some serious big leagues, and what you're describing is teenage misbehavior.''

Puglisi and Ragsdale declined to comment for this story. Ragsdale describes herself as a life coach, businesswoman and pastor on her Women Supporting Women Ministry website, where she goes by the name Christine Lynn or "Pastor Lynn.''

Cacciatore's boss, Broward Property Appraiser Lori Parrish, said she feels "positive he didn't do it.''

"It would be out of character for him completely,'' she said. "But would he defend his wife and daughter? You bet.''

Cacciatore's personnel file bulges with accolades from Parrish and from others in leadership roles, including one letter of commendation from Satz.

One of Parrish's highest ranking officials, Cacciatore is director of the Department of Professional Standards and Compliance, earning $174,921, plus a take-home Chevy Tahoe. He entered the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, and can work until 2020, state pension officials said, when he'll be eligible for a $521,192 payout and a $8,907 monthly pension check.

Round 1

At the Village Homes community, drama roils beneath the surface. And it didn't start with the current president, Puglisi.

Public records open a window into Ragsdale's neighborhood troubles starting in 2010. Her poodles kept running loose, and she was fined $100.

The tension escalated one day when then-association President Patricia Weksztein Rybarczyk saw the dogs loose and attempted to capture the rule violation on her iPhone camera. She told police later that Ragsdale tried to grab it, then "grabbed my hair,'' triggering her "defense instinct'' to bite her.

Ragsdale and the homeowners association president sought restraining orders against each other. Ragsdale complained to the courts she was harassed with parking tickets, towing of cars, and letters saying she wasn't walking her dogs "with the right type of clothing on.''

Ron and Diane Cacciatore were involved in that showdown as well, records show, showing up at a homeowners association meeting to watch three sheriff's deputies serve a temporary restraining order on Rybarczyk, and trying to have her replaced as president.

Eventually, Puglisi won the presidency.

Round 2

Now Cacciatore, his wife and stepdaughter are locked in battle with Puglisi.

Cacciatore said she picks on his stepdaughter, whom he raised since age 4, while she lets other neighbors slide.

He was outraged, for example, when his stepdaughter's mulched garden drew censure from Puglisi. The association made Ragsdale pay to restore it to its original appearance, because it was in a common area.

"How would you like it if they were attacking your kids?" he said.

Cacciatore said he warned Puglisi he would have her replaced as president, and then would fire the property manager he said she teams up with.

In mid-October, homeowners received an unsigned letter about the association president. Cacciatore said his wife wrote it.

"Puglisi makes her own rules to satisfy her distorted hatred for her neighbors,'' the letter says. "We have an attorney who is initiating a lawsuit against the HOA and Puglisi personally. We would like to file a class action for all the victims. The lawsuit will cost you nothing!" the letter states.

Damage

A few days later, Cacciatore pulled into the parking lot at the homeowners association meeting. He parked next to Puglisi's Focus. But that was a coincidence, his attorney Michael Dutko said.

"At the time he parked and walked in, he didn't know he'd parked next to her car,'' Dutko said.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office investigative report, the video footage shows a man "100 percent positively identified'' by Puglisi as Cacciatore park next to her vehicle, get out and head for the building door, then immediately return to the parking lot, standing between his and Puglisi's cars. Then he walks back to the building door, walks into the lobby and looks around for 20 seconds, then exits the building, gets into his SUV and leaves.

"It should be ... noted,'' the report says, "that although the white male is seen on the video footage in the area directly between his and Puglisi's vehicle, the angle of the camera does not clearly show what his actions are while he is between the vehicles.''

Cacciatore said he went back to grab a bottle of water from his vehicle.

He said he spends his time collecting books, school desks and clothing for poor people and wouldn't commit such a petty act as keying a car.

"Ron Cacciatore adamantly and vehemently denies that he had anything to do with the vandalism to Miss Puglisi's car,'' Dutko said.

Though the original incident report from the Broward Sheriff's Office shows a $650 damage estimate, beneath the $1,000 felony threshold, Puglisi provided a higher estimate later, records show, pushing it into the felony range.

The car is worth about $1,583, according to Kelley Blue Book. Puglisi's estimate to repair the scratch on the passenger side, according to the sheriff's office supplemental report, was $1,960.

Puglisi's passenger, who rode with her to and from the meeting, gave a sworn statement that the damage wasn't present when he first got in.

But Cacciatore's attorney said he's not convinced. He said it was dark out, and the 78-year-old passenger must have missed the scratches when he got in the car for a ride to the meeting.

Lissette Valdes-Valle, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, said the case is still "under investigation.''

Parrish, Cacciatore's boss, said she won't remove him from his post even if he's charged with a felony.

"My understanding of the law is you're innocent until proven guilty, and everyone's allowed a defense," Parrish said. "And I believe he's innocent.''

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Trouble seems to follow this guy where ever he goes. I think he might have screwed the pooch one to many times and his luck might be running out.

[Unregistered]

The chicken man takes a dive!!!!!!!

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Why do we care about this guy? Oh we dont. This was written by one of Isreals political hacks who trolls this site. The post was too long for a real deputy

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Filing 25 lawsuits he always was a scammer and a legend in his own mind.

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Proof Chicken man is close to Bob "rookie reporter" Norman no story.

Karma is a real thing, Have a great ballgame today!

RHM

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Him and SA Satz are friends enough said

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No witnesses,standing by the car means Nothing..If he denies,no way will be prosecuted... Nice to see he is still stirring up shixxxx..

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Why do we care about this guy? Oh we dont. This was written by one of Isreals political hacks who trolls this site. The post was too long for a real deputy

Nobody here wrote it. Somebody was lazy and cut and pasted from today's Sentinel (but cut the parts giving the reporter credit). Why would an Israel hack post this? I though Cacciatore was an Israel friend. But, yeah, I agree. The guy is a total has-been, hasn't mattered to us at BSO in like 20+ years.

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Back in the day..he was awesome. .let's not forget Dennis G, Perry H. Mark D, Angelo C, GONZO REAL UC'S