West Palm man claiming to be 'prophet' charged with wrecking Stuart store, vehicles

STUART, Fla. - A West Palm Beach man claiming to be a prophet sent by God "to get rid of the devil's evil doings" faces criminal charges for destroying Psychic Corner and several vehicles, according to a Stuart Police Department arrest affidavit.

Police on Sunday charged Michael Novatka, 26, of the 3200 block of Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach, with five felony counts of criminal mischief and three misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief, according to arrest affidavits.

When officers responded to a burglary in progress call at the Psychic Corner on U. S. 1 and Ocean Boulevard, they found Novatka outside standing near the entrance.

The glass to the storefront building was "completely smashed out," the affidavit states.

Television sets were ripped off the wall, and money and shards of glass were scattered on the floor.

"There was very little left in the store that was reusable," the report states.

Novatka told the officers God brought him to the business to damage it, the affidavit states.

While officers interviewed him, Novatka said he "destroyed" a white Jeep in Royal Palm Financial Center Parking Garage and agreed to take police to see his handiwork, the affidavit states.

Police saw had the 1997 Jeep had its hood up and doors open. Its leather interior was stabbed, sliced and torn, the radio ripped out and its electrical wires cut.

Using his own blood, Novatka wrote on the outside of the Jeep, "Fear God," the affidavit states.

"It's a little scary. I scared myself when I saw what I did," Novatka is quoted saying in the affidavit.

Novatka told police he is "perfectly sane," and told them the correct day, where he was and what he was going and that he had no medical conditions to prove his sanity, the affidavit states.

Novatka told officers, the affidavit states, that God led him to the vehicle and told him it needed to be destroyed.

Next, Novatka led officers to a white van and a black pickup truck he had damaged.

Officers found a 2001 white van behind a 7-Eleven convenience store with two slashed tires and key marks along its left side. Also officers found near the Psychic Corner a 1993 black Toyota truck with a shattered windshield, the affidavit states.

As of Monday Novatka was being held at the Martin County Jail on $27,500 bail.