Haines City, Florida – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 54 Yr old John Duran of Lake Alfred. Duran is accused of Attempted Murder in the 2nd Degree, Robbery with a Firearm & Discharge of a Firearm in Residential Area. Duran was taken into custody on May 3, 2024.
The following is a redacted, but unedited portion of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit (It should be noted that this is an unedited report of facts by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. These facts are up for question and everyone is entitled to question the validity of facts by law enforcement in a court of law. The Daily Ridge does not rewrite these facts as some meanings or interpretations could be in error and change context. We hope readers appreciate being able to read the information and come to their own understanding and conclusions. A suspect is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.) :
“On Thursday May 2nd, 2024 at approximately 2345 hours, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Central Patrol Division was notified an armed robbery victim at Winter Haven Hospital and requested to respond. Upon arrival, deputies learned an armed robbery took place at the Stay Plus Inn, located at 33224 Highway 27, Haines City FL. Northeast Patrol Deputies responded to the hotel in order to locate witnesses and a crime scene.
I responded to the Winter Haven Hospital in order to make contact with the victim, REDACTED. REDACTED was taken to the hospital for a broken nose after he was hit by one of the suspects in this investigation. REDACTED was present with his father, REDACTED, and his mother REDACTED. Both parents gave me permission to complete a sworn recorded interview with REDACTED about what took place.
REDACTED stated he was at the Stay Plus Inn located at 33224 US-27 S, Haines City FL 33844, playing football in the street with his friends. REDACTED stated at approximately 2255 hours, he observed an older dark in color Ford F150 in the parking lot of the Stay Plus Inn. This vehicle was driver by what he believed was a Hispanic male (referred to as a Mexican) along with an additional Hispanic male, white male, and a white female as the passengers. REDACTED stated one of the Hispanic males asked REDACTED to hand over his gold necklace. REDACTED stated he would not give him the necklace without a fight and both Hispanic males and the white male then begin to fight him and jump him.
REDACTED stated the fight continued and the suspects pull the chain off from his neck. REDACTED stated he started to chase the suspect with the chain in his hand when one of the Hispanic males hit him over the head with a pistol and attempted to shoot him in the head. REDACTED stated after the gun went off, the female, two Hispanic males, and white male then flee to the dark in color Ford F-150 and drive away from the crime scene. REDACTED stated this physical contact was non-consensual and he was in fear for his life when the fight was occurring.
REDACTED stated the handgun he was hit with was a black Taurus semi-automatic handgun with a laser sight. REDACTED’s father REDACTED, stated he bought the necklace for his son and it was fake gold. REDACTED stated the necklace was had 24K engraved on it as the brand and is valued at $275.00 in US Currency. REDACTED was able to provide an image of his son wearing the necklace.
I responded to the crime scene at the Stay Plus Inn and completed a neighborhood canvass. During this canvass, I went to the RaceTrac located at 32886 US Hwy 27, Haines City FL in order to review the camera footage and see if the suspects entered the store. The camera footage has an accurate time stamp and there is no sound. During REDACTED’s interview, he stated the suspect group was “drinking and smoking” by the truck before the incident took place. With this information in mind, I checked the RaceTrac cameras before the incident took place to see if the suspect group went to the store before the crime occurred.
I was able to review the footage with the assistance of a store manager. I reviewed the camera footage and found subjects matching REDACTED’s description exited a dark in color Ford F150 at approximately 2200 hours. The subjects pump gas and purchase items from inside the store and leave at 2210 hours. I took a still image of the subjects and their vehicle to forward to REDACTED. REDACTED responded to the message stating these subjects were the suspects who committed the crime.
A check of cameras and law enforcement intelligence gathering databases resulted in the discovery of a grey Ford F-150 bearing a Florida Tag of CI71BG. This vehicle was searched through DAVID and found to be registered to John Duran with a date of birth of 04/17/1970. Duran has an address in Lake Alfred and has a history of law enforcement interactions in the Lake Alfred area. I responded to the area and completed a joint neighborhood canvass with the Lake Alfred Police Department. Duran was located at 650 E Pierce Street in Lake Alfred, driving grey Ford F150. When exiting the vehicle, Duran stated he was in possession of a firearm and agreed to turn it over to me. I found Duran was carrying a black Taurus semi-automatic handgun matching the description provided by REDACTED. Duran then began to consensually empty his pockets. While empting his pockets, a gold chain matching the description provided by REDACTED came out of his pocket and into his hand.
Duran handed me the gold chain and two other firearms from inside the vehicle. I asked Duran if he would accompany me to the Lake Alfred Police Department Headquarters in order to complete a consensual interview. Duran agreed to come to the Headquarters and speak with me. I issued a Miranda Warning to Duran from my agency issued Miranda Card and ensured he understood each of the statements as they were read to him. Duran stated he understood and agreed to continue the interview.
Post Miranda, Duran stated he was at the Stay Plus Inn when the earlier incident took place. He stated he was doing work for his wife who lives at the Stay Plus Inn and hanging out with his family. Duran stated he drove to the Stay Plus Inn in his Ford F150 with his son, John Justin Duran, his former step-son, REDACTED, and John Justin’s girlfriend, Camelia Garcia. Duran stated while he was hanging out by his truck with his two other daughters, he heard gunshots and instructed his children to get inside their mother’s hotel room. He then “helped” an unknown black male, touching his back saying “come on come on” and ushering him to safety past his truck. He then got into his truck with John Justin, REDACTED, and Garcia and fled the area. I asked Duran how he came to possess the stolen necklace and he stated he found it on the ground.
I asked why Duran didn’t call 911 when the gunshots went off and he couldn’t provide an explanation. I confronted him about REDACTED’s allegations and Duran denied being involved despite having the same exact firearm described by the victim. I also asked Duran to clarify how he came into possession of the stolen necklace and he continued to claim he just found it on the ground. Duran stated he was in possession of the black Taurus handgun during the incident and no one took it from him beforehand or after the fact.
At this point in time, I determined that Duran was unable to truthfully explain what took place. Duran is in possession of the same exact style of firearm described by REDACTED, in possession of REDACTED’s stolen necklace, and was driving the vehicle described by REDACTED. With these details in mind, I determined Duran is one of the suspects involved in this incident. With Duran stating the firearm was in his possession the entire night before, I determined he was the subject that hit REDACTED over the head and discharged the firearm. With Duran’s possession of REDACTED’s gold chain I determined he was the subject who took the chain from REDACTED under threat of violence.
With the totality of these facts in mind I determined Duran’s actions place him in violation of Florida State Statute 782.04 for attempted second degree murder, Florida State Statute 812.13(2)(A) for robbery with firearm, and Florida State Statute 790.15(4) for discharging a firearm in a residential area.
Duran was taken into custody and transported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing Center without any further incident.
