PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — An off-duty Palm Beach County deputy who was picking up his laundry walked in on an attempted robbery at a dry cleaning business on Tuesday and was stabbed twice, a newly released arrest report said.
Glen Gotell, 73, is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary while armed, and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
According to Gotell's arrest report, the suspect, who is homeless, was armed with a knife when he tried to rob Cost-Less Cleaners, located in the 4100 block of South Jog Road near Greenacres at approximately 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
An employee said Gotell approached the cash register and told the worker to "open the box," the arrest report said.
At the same time, an off-duty Palm Beach County deputy, identified in the arrest report as Willie Hanks, walked into the business to pick up his laundry.
The worker tried to alert Hanks to the crime, and that's when Gotell suddenly stabbed the deputy twice in the left hand and left torso, the arrest report said.
Gotell then ran out of the dry cleaning business and stole the deputy's marked PBSO patrol car. It was eventually found abandoned about a half-mile away, parked outside a church in the 3600 block of South Jog Road.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the county's Homeless Intervention Team recognized a picture of Gotell and said he frequently hangs out at the Greenacres branch of the Palm Beach County Library System, located in the 3700 block of South Jog Road.
The sheriff's office then went to a homeless camp nearby and asked if Gotell looked familiar. At least one person at the camp confirmed that Gotell frequents the library and goes by the name "Jersey."
According to the arrest report, when deputies entered the library, the found Gotell sitting near a computer and took him into custody.
We got him. pic.twitter.com/5jUnJWvI6V
— PBSO (@PBCountySheriff) August 28, 2024
A gray t-shirt with a "blood-like substance" was found in trash can at the front of library, along with two shopping carts of "various personal items," the report said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said there was evidence in the bathroom at the library that Gotell had shaved and cleaned himself up.
The person who knows Gotell told deputies that "several of the local homeless population often take 'homeless showers' in the bathroom of the library, specifically in the handicapped stall, where there is more room," the arrest report stated.
The sheriff's office said Wednesday the injured deputy is in stable condition in the hospital.
"Fortunately, the deputy is going to make it," Bradshaw said. "He's still in surgery repairing his liver. At the end of the day, a good arrest and a good outcome."
In court Wednesday, a judge denied Gotell bond and ordered him to have no contact with the deputy.
