Boca Raton Trio Charged in Illegal Warehouse ‘Takeover’ During Car Gathering

Grant David Genovese, Dylan Khoury and Gabriel Alberto Rodriguez-Baz. (Photos: Palm Beach County Jail)

Three Boca Raton men were arrested this week on felony charges after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigators said they took part in an unauthorized “takeover”-style car gathering that caused more than $50,000 in damage to a private warehouse in unincorporated Delray Beach.

Grant D. Genovese, 20, Dylan Khoury, 22, and Gabriel Alberto Rodriguez-Baz, 20, all of Boca Raton, have been accused of driving pickup trucks into the warehouse, at 14130 U.S. 441 (SR-7), during a late-night gathering in April, according to arrest affidavits filed in court this week. Genovese and Khoury were booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday, and Rodriguez-Baz was booked Thursday, jail records show.

Genovese was charged with burglary of a structure involving property damage caused by a vehicle and criminal mischief causing more than $1,000 in damage, both felonies. Khoury and Rodriguez-Baz, were each charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure while unarmed, also a felony.

The case stems from an investigation opened after deputies responded to a car meet outside the Wawa store on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach shortly before midnight on May 2. People at the scene directed deputies to a warehouse to the north, where authorities said roughly 30 vehicles fled at high speed as they arrived. A subsequent inspection of the warehouse turned up “extensive damage,” police said, including burnout tire marks and chemical residue from fire extinguishers that had been discharged throughout the building, including in break rooms and restrooms, according to the affidavits. Investigators said fireworks had been set off inside, a structural support beam had been struck and damaged by a vehicle that lost control, and a locked overhead bay door had been pried open to let vehicles inside.

The warehouse’s owner, Miami-based FRP Holdings Inc., told deputies it wanted to pursue charges. A property manager for the company said the building – which was vacant and listed for sale or lease at the time – had previously been damaged in three earlier, unrelated takeover-style incidents that caused roughly $15,000 in damage. Investigators put the damage connected to this case at more than $50,000.

Detectives with the PBSO Street Crimes Unit, working under an initiative called “Operation Hot Wheels” that targets street takeovers, said they used videos and photos posted to Instagram and TikTok to identify two separate gatherings at the warehouse: a smaller one on April 25 involving pickup trucks performing stunt-driving maneuvers, and a much larger one on May 2 involving dozens of vehicles, fireworks and widespread use of fire extinguishers.

The charges against Genovese, Khoury and Rodriguez-Baz stem from the April 25 gathering. According to the affidavits, investigators matched vehicles seen on video inside the warehouse that night – a white Ford F-250, a white Toyota Tundra and a black Ford F-250 – to registrations connected to the three men, and further identified them through social media videos and accounts. Rodriguez-Baz was seen exiting his truck without a face covering in one video, the affidavit states.

The records reviewed do not show anyone charged in connection with the larger May 2 gathering, and the Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains open.

Rodriguez-Baz and Khoury were both freed from the Palm Beach County Jail after posting $5,000 bond each; Genovese was released from jail after posting a combined $10,000 bond on the two separate charges.