Man dies after fall outside of MoQuila Restaurant in Boca Raton

Boca Raton, FL – On Sunday, August 22, at about 5:10 a.m., officers with the Boca Raton Police Services Department responded to Delray Medical Center regarding a male who had been injured several hours earlier at the MoQuila Restaurant, 99 Plaza Real South.

Doctors told officers that the male, identified as Philip DeFriesse, had sustained a serious head injury. Officers spoke to DeFriesse’s girlfriend, Jessica Grossman at the hospital. She told them at about 1:00 a.m., DeFriesse had met her at the MoQuila Restaurant. Grossman said that at about 2:00 a.m. she left the restaurant alone. She said about 3:15 a.m., she received a phone call from restaurant personnel who told her that DeFriesse was intoxicated and needed to be picked up. When Grossman arrived, she found DeFriesse unconscious in a chair outside the restaurant. Grossman learned that DeFriesse had gotten into a fight with an unknown person and at some point he either fell or was pushed and hit his head on the pavement. Grossman took DeFriesse to Boca Raton Community Hospital and from there he was transferred to Delray Medical Center where he died later this afternoon.

If anyone has information about this incident, they are asked to call Detective Scott Hanley at (561) 338-1344 or if you'd like to stay anonymous and be eligible for up to $1,000 REWARD call Crime Stoppers at 800-458-TIPS or text tips @ tips@cspbc.com.