PROBLEM. WE’LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE OUTAGE ON AIR AND ONLINE. PALM BEACH COUNTY DEPUTIES ARE INVESTIGATING HATEFUL VANDALISM TARGETING A BUSINESS COMPLEX IN BOCA RATON. RACIST AND ANTI-SEMITIC SYMBOLS WERE PAINTED IN THE BUSINESS’S PARKING LOT. CALEB CALIFANO HAS WHAT WE KNOW AND HOW EMPLOYEES ARE RESPONDING. INVESTIGATORS SAY A RACIAL SLUR, A SWASTIKA AND OTHER MARKINGS WERE PAINTED ON THE PAVEMENT SOMETIME OVER THE WEEKEND. A PAINT BRUSH AND AN EMPTY PAINT CAN WERE FOUND AT THE SCENE. DEPUTIES ATTEMPTED TO PULL FINGERPRINTS BUT SAY THE RESULTS WERE NEGATIVE. THE DAMAGE IS ESTIMATED AT AROUND $500, AND THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THE PROPERTY MANAGER DOES PLAN TO PROSECUTE. WHILE THE PARKING LOT IS CLEAR NOW, PEOPLE WHO WORK HERE TELL ME THEY’RE STILL DEEPLY AFFECTED BY THE IMAGES THAT THEY SAW. HONESTLY, IT WAS A FEELING OF UNEASINESS AND HURT. HONESTLY, I WAS VERY HURT ABOUT SEEING THAT. CRYSTAL WASHINGTON WORKS AT DURHAM PARTNERS, ONE OF THE BUSINESSES INSIDE THE COMPLEX. SHE TELLS ME THE IMAGES SHOCKED THE CORE OF THE OFFICE, WITH MANY OF THE EMPLOYEES BEING EITHER JEWISH, BLACK OR HISPANIC. AND WE LITERALLY CAME AND SAID, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT WEEK THIS WEEK AND A GREAT MONDAY. BUT THEN TO SEE THAT IT LIKE DESTROYED THE WHOLE MOOD OF THE OFFICE. SO FAR, THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THEY HAVE NO ACTIVE LEADS ON WHO DID THIS. ALL THEY HAVE CURRENTLY IS SECURITY VIDEO. PEOPLE RIDING ELECTRIC BIKES TO THE PARKING LOT LATE AT NIGHT. EMPLOYEES IN THE COMPLEX SAY WHOEVER PAINTED THE IMAGES NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS OF WHAT THEY DID. THEY SEEM TO HATE PEOPLE BY COLOR, BY RACE, BY RELIGION. AND THAT HATE THAT’S INDISCRIMINATE. UNDERLINES FOR ME HOW WE ARE ALL REALLY IN THIS FIG
Hate symbols painted in Boca Raton business complex spark PBSO investigation
Updated: 6:06 PM EST Jan 14, 2026
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Palm Beach County deputies are investigating vandalism at a Boca Raton business complex where racist and antisemitic symbols were painted in the parking lot over the weekend.Investigators reported that a racial slur, a swastika and other markings were painted on the pavement. A paintbrush and an empty paint can were discovered at the scene, but attempts to pull fingerprints were unsuccessful. The damage is estimated at around $500, and the property manager plans to prosecute, according to the sheriff’s office.While the parking lot has been cleared, employees at the complex continue to feel the impact of the images. Krystal Washington, a medical assistant at DermPartners, one of the businesses in the complex, expressed the shock felt by the office, which includes many Jewish, Black and Hispanic employees. “It’s just, it really was just all right there on the street. When you see that and you work with people that are Jewish, that are also Black as well, it’s probably like, what’s going on? Why would someone do that?” Washington said.The sheriff’s office currently has no active leads on the suspects, with only security video showing people riding electric bikes through the parking lot late at night. Employees in the complex emphasize the seriousness of the act and the need for accountability.”They seem to hate people by color, by race, by religion. And that hate that’s indiscriminate underlines for me how we are all really in this fight together against hate,” said Dr. Robert Topper, a local surgeon in the complex.
Palm Beach County deputies are investigating vandalism at a Boca Raton business complex where racist and antisemitic symbols were painted in the parking lot over the weekend.
Investigators reported that a racial slur, a swastika and other markings were painted on the pavement. A paintbrush and an empty paint can were discovered at the scene, but attempts to pull fingerprints were unsuccessful. The damage is estimated at around $500, and the property manager plans to prosecute, according to the sheriff’s office.
While the parking lot has been cleared, employees at the complex continue to feel the impact of the images.
Krystal Washington, a medical assistant at DermPartners, one of the businesses in the complex, expressed the shock felt by the office, which includes many Jewish, Black and Hispanic employees.
“It’s just, it really was just all right there on the street. When you see that and you work with people that are Jewish, that are also Black as well, it’s probably like, what’s going on? Why would someone do that?” Washington said.
The sheriff’s office currently has no active leads on the suspects, with only security video showing people riding electric bikes through the parking lot late at night. Employees in the complex emphasize the seriousness of the act and the need for accountability.
“They seem to hate people by color, by race, by religion. And that hate that’s indiscriminate underlines for me how we are all really in this fight together against hate,” said Dr. Robert Topper, a local surgeon in the complex.
