A Winter Haven man is in custody after he took merchandise from Home Depot, punched a store associate and then ran from authorities.
On February 25, 2019, at approximately 10:30 a.m., 52 year-old Raymond Lavern McKinney (Ave Q, NW, Winter Haven) went into Home Depot located at 2000 8th St NW and selected a DeWalt brand multi tool, a Ryobi brand 18 volt impact driver kit, and a Ryobi brand 12 volt driver kit and placed them all in a shopping cart.
After going towards the back of the store, McKinney was seen by a store associate taking some of the items out of the packaging and placing them inside of his coat pockets. He then went to the front of the store and walked out of the store without any attempt to pay for the objects.
The store associate followed him into the parking lot and confronted McKinney. As the associate requested McKinney to surrender the merchandise, McKinney intentional punched the associate and then ran towards the back of the store.
A short time later, Winter Haven Police Officers found McKinney walking through Lakeside Cemetery and when he saw the officer he started to run north through the cemetery. McKinney disregarded verbal commands and continued to run towards a wooded area on the south side of Lake Ida.
A Polk County Sheriff’s Office K-9 officer assisted and McKinney was found in a wooded area on the south side of Lake Ida. The K-9 apprehended McKinney and he was quickly taken into custody. McKinney was taken to Winter Haven Hospital to receive treatment for the bites caused by the K-9. The injuries were minor and McKinney was ultimately booked into Polk County Jail at a charge of Robbery W/O a Firearm (F.S.S. 812.13(2)(C) – F2 and two counts of Resisting Officer W/O Violence (F.S.S. 843.02) – M1
