The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is currently on scene of a barricaded suspect in the area of N Socrum Loop Rd.
According to Carrie Horstman, Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Public Information Officer, deputies went to serve a warrant on suspect. He is now barricaded inside some type of structure (at this time PCSO has not clarified if it’s a house, garage or a shed type building). The incident began around 8:30pm according to Horstman.
The PCSO SWAT team is staging at near the scene. It was unclear if the suspect had shot at deputies, but details will be released shortly. Suspect is considered armed and very dangerous. The suspect does not have any hostage. He is believed to be barricaded by himself.
A large law enforcement presence is in the area and have a perimeter set up around the suspect.
This is a developing story and we will update as information becomes available!
The Bartow City Commission voted at their regular meeting on Monday to construct a new municipal aquatics center at the City’s Civic Center, located at
2250 S. Floral Ave. The decision followed a months-long process of information gathering that included multiple Commission Workshops, a Community meeting and survey of residents and business owners.
The Civic Center is the site of the City’s old pool, which was closed several years ago due to infrastructure and mechanical issues. That pool will be filled in to accommodate a more modern aquatics center design that will include additional amenities.
The more than 960 residents who responded to the survey and the 50 individuals who attended the Community meeting were overwhelmingly in favor of the Civic Center location.
Construction of the aquatics center, which will include a main pool with six 25-yard exercise lanes, a zero-depth entry children’s pool with play structures, a splash pad with interactive water features, a shaded event pavilion and the necessary pump and filter equipment, will cost approximately $3.93 million.
Annual operating expenses are expected to amount to nearly $500,000. The construction costs will be taken from the City’s reserve funds.
Construction is projected to begin next summer with the center opening to the public in July or August of 2026.
JC Reviews: Harold and the Purple Crayon is Creatively Uncreative
by James Coulter
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Confession time: I never read Harold and the Purple Crayon. However, from what I can glean from it, the story is a classic tale of a young boy with a big imagination and a small purple crayon that can bring his big ideas to life.
With this classic children’s storybook selling nearly 10,000 copies since its publication in 1955, adaptations for the big and small screen seemed inevitable. Most notably, an animated children’s series was created for HBO Family in the early 2000s.
A proper big-screen adaptation had been in production hell since the 1990s. Sony Pictures had originally planned on adapting the story into an animated film in the 2010s. However, that movie was inevitably shelved.
Now, nearly a decade later, Sony has finally released a live-action film starring Zachary Levi. But was this theatrical adaptation of a beloved children’s storybook worth the wait? Or should we have waited for a better movie? (Spoiler: it’s the latter!)
Harold and the Purple Crayon, as the title suggests, is about a young boy named Harold who has a purple crayon that can bring any drawing to life. With it, he creates his friends, Moose and Porcupine, along with an entire world of pure purple imagination, with his life story narrated by someone affectionately known as the “old man.”
Years pass, the young boy grows up into a man, and the “old man” narrating his story eventually stops. Curious as to why, Harold and his friends venture into the real world to find his “old man.” Hijinks ensue! Will his hijinks lead Harold to his old man? Or will it lead him into a world of trouble?
Again, I never read the original story. However, from what I can tell, it’s a beloved children’s storybook about the boundless potential of imagination and creativity. Sadly, its film adaptation lacks both.
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: a man grows up living a magical yet sheltered lifestyle. He ventures into the real world. His childlike innocence and naivety make him both awe-struck by this “new world” yet also incapable of navigating its many complexities. He fools around in a department store. He falls in love with a woman. And he helps a young boy overcome his bullies.
If this plot synopsis reminds you of 2003’s Elf, congrats on having watched a much better movie than this one. By all means, just watch Elf and you’ll have a much better time than watching Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Again, for a film based on a children’s story about creativity, this movie evidently lacks it. This is a story about a boy with a crayon who can draw anything. It could have been a ground-breaking movie about the limitless power of imagination and what it’s capable of (something akin to The Lego Movie). Instead, what we got was a movie that rehashes tired tropes and plots from better movies.
Even Zachary Levi’s casting as the titular adult Harold seems to lean heavily on his previous performance as Shazam. As one review on The Movie Cricket wrote: “Levi relies on the same shtick he used in two Shazam movies, playing the clueless man-child with incredible powers, but the routine is getting old.”
Actually, having brought up Elf earlier, that’s another bugbear for me. The problem isn’t even that this movie is about a grown man with the mind of a child. Both Elf and 1988’s Big used that concept. The problem is, both of those movies used that concept well.
Both Elf and Big used the adult man’s childlike innocence to help bring life to a boring adult world. Buddy helped revitalize the Christmas spirit for people who had lost it. Josh helped bring child-like wonder to a toy industry that had lost it.
Ideally, Harold should have been a movie about a man whose boundless creativity and imagination bring life to a boring, modern world that had all but lost it. And the film certainly thinks it’s about that. It does the bare minimum by helping a boy defeat his bullies and his mother drop her dead-end job to fulfill her lost dream of playing piano. But overall, the movie fails to live up to either its promise or its premise.
Honestly, this movie was cringe and bad enough and would have easily been a middling two stars. However, what ruined the movie for me was one thing: the villain.
Apparently, the ideal antagonist for a movie based on a story about imagination and creativity is the author of a fantasy story. Oh, but it’s okay because he’s a “failed author” whose work is highly derivative of Tolkien and other fantasy stories. Oh, and he’s a librarian, too! (Again, an ideal villain for this movie based on a book.)
So, yeah, as both a writer and a self-published fantasy author, the movie’s villain being a failed fantasy author whose story gets constantly rejected by publishers…that rubbed me the wrong way. And made me give this a failing one star.
In short, don’t watch Harold and the Purple Crayon. Read the book it’s based on. And if you want to watch a movie about a man-child navigating the real world, watch Elf or Big instead.
The first incident occurred around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 18, 2024: the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single-vehicle crash on Saddle Creek Road, near Saddle Creek Park in Lakeland. The driver of the vehicle was 47-year old Evelyn Ross of Auburndale.
The responding deputy made contact with Ross in her vehicle, which had collided with a utility pole and was still running. It was immediately apparent to the responding deputy that Ross was intoxicated; her eyes were bloodshot and watery, and he detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her person. She admitted to the deputy that she had made a bad choice and had had a lot to drink. After failing field sobriety tests, she was arrested and transported to a local hospital to be checked out. She was treated and released, then transported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing Center without further incident.
Ross’ two BACs (blood alcohol concentration, which is the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream) were 0.197 and 0.190. The legal threshold is .08. She was subsequently charged with DUI over 0.15 (M2) and DUI with Property Damage (M1).
On Monday afternoon, August 19th, 61-year old Dwayne Knowles of Lakeland told PCSO detectives that he just got, “fed-up.”
This incident occurred at Saddle Creek Camp Ground in Lakeland at around 2:15pm.
Two men were sitting at the camp ground when a white Ford F-150 came speeding directly toward one of the men, and the truck hit him.
After hitting the man, the driver (Knowles) got out of the truck and began punching the 34-year old victim in the back of the head.
The victim’s 78-year old grandmother intervened and tried to stop Knowles’ attack. Knowles pushed the women to the ground. He then got into his truck and fled the area.
Miraculously, neither victim was injured.
Knowles claimed that the victim had stolen a speaker from him a few days prior and has been bragging about it in front of him…and he just became “fed-up” with it.
Dwayne Knowles was arrested and taken to the Polk Pokey where he was charged with attempted 1st degree murder, aggravated battery on a person over 65, and battery.
LAKELAND, FL (August 19, 2023) – The Tenth Judicial Circuit Officer Involved Deadly Incident Task Force is investigating an officer-involved shooting which occurred in the 4200 block of US Highway 98 North, at the Village Plaza. The incident began at approximately 12:41 p.m. when Lakeland Police officers responded to calls of a male in a white Lincoln sedan who appeared to be incapacitated behind the wheel of his vehicle. The vehicle was stopped at a stop sign in the 1700 block of Lakehurst Street and the vehicle was still running. LPD officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, but he awoke and struck a nearby citizen’s vehicle as he fled. Officers did not pursue the suspect at that time. LPD officers spotted the suspect a short time later at a gas station in the 3400 block of US Highway 98 North and once again attempted to stop him. The suspect fled a second time. Officers did not engage in a pursuit.
At 1:18 p.m. the suspect’s vehicle was located parked at the Village Plaza parking lot. As officers approached the vehicle the suspect climbed from the back seat of his vehicle into the front seat. Once behind the wheel the suspect repeatedly rammed two officers’ vehicles in an attempt to flee when one officer fired several times at the suspect. The suspect was able to flee again and officers pursued him onto US Highway 98 North, then to Wedgewood Estates Boulevard where he crashed near Douglas M. Cook Park.
One officer sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Lakeland Regional Health (LRH).
The suspect was identified as John Alfred Hofman (age 57) of Webster, Florida. He was taken into custody and transported to LRH for evaluation, but sustained no obvious injuries and was transported to the Polk County Jail to be processed.
In addition to charges Hofman will face for this incident, he had felony arrest warrants from Sumter County and Volusia County to include Fleeing to Elude and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Hofman’s history included over 30 criminal charges and 10 felony convictions
Local attorney Christopher Desrochers has 30+ years of Law Practice and Business Management under his belt. Here’s three reasons why he feels best suited to be the new public defender.
Christopher Desrochers has visited and toured the Public Defender’s Office in Bartow twice. During both trips, he noticed various issues in the office.
One major issue: none of the senior support staff working there apparently had an understudy or assistant. Not a single one. Compounding matters even further, many of these senior support staff members were close to retirement. So, there was no one to immediately take their place when they stepped down.
Aside from his 31 years of experience as a practicing civil and criminal defense attorney, Desrochers also has extensive experience in managing several corporations through their revitalization and transition processes.
As someone with such extensive experience running several businesses, he knew that how the public defender’s office was currently being managed was not how a proper business was run. In fact, such shoddy management was a recipe for disaster, he said.
“Apparently, the overall plan was that if someone were to retire, they were going [to give someone] a list of instructions and tell them to have a nice day,” Desrochers said. “That is not a transition plan. That is the plot of Night of the Museum.”
For that and many other reasons, Desrochers has decided to not only utilize his experience in civil and criminal law, but also in managing businesses big and small, to run for Public Defender of the 10th Judicial Circuit.
A Winter Haven native, Desrochers graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1985. He graduated from law school at the University of Florida. He has since gained more than 31 years of practicing law.
While his career focused mostly on civil law, he also has experience in criminal law, often representing people in criminal cases who have either been detained or have received court-appointed counsel under the Criminal Justice Act.
Desrochers also has extensive experience running his own law firm and several other companies, especially those going through reorganization or transition. As someone with such managerial and corporate experience coupled with his experience practicing law, he considers himself the best candidate to become a public defender.
Having visited the public defender’s office at least twice, he has not only seen the problems firsthand for himself, but he has analyzed these problems with potential solutions he could easily implement in his position.
One issue of which he had been informed was that attorneys had been discharged “squirreling”, where cases are often hoarded away out of sight rather than being worked on. He blames this problem on both the lack of oversight and the overall office being understaffed, to the point where too many cases are being appointed to too few attorneys.
“No one has been managing the store, and it has been running on autopilot,” he said. “So, there are certainly issues in the public defender’s office. I spotted a bunch of them in 20 minutes. At this point, I can see why the office is having issues, and why the court system is backed up.”
Desrochers has proposed three reasons why he is the most suited to address these problems:
#1: He has the experience to identify these problems and address them promptly:
“This all comes back to my experience. “[Someone else may] look at this issue and ask, ‘Where do we start?’ I look at these issues and say, ‘I handled these before.’ I have been in places where firms are being run on autopilot with absentee supervisors and managers so to speak.”
#2: He considers himself to be the most “intellectually honest” person for the position. He contrasts himself with his opponent, whom he claims has only been repeating the problems that are plaguing the public defender’s office.
“She has not planned anything,” he said. “There is no plan on the other side. Her intention is to work on autopilot like Rex did, and it will be the same old thing with the same old results but worse.”
#3: He has effortlessly handled similar issues in other companies that he has managed that are currently plaguing the public defender’s office.
“I have managed and help manage a business that is bigger than the public defender office,” he said. “It is something that unfortunately my opponent has no experience in. She has worked at the office but as a line worker…which is great, we need line workers, but eventually, we need a CEO, and I have those skills point blank.”
For more information, visit his campaign website at: https://cadforpd.com/
An early morning head-on collision north of Lakeland Saturday, August 17, 2024 left one man dead, and caused the road to be closed for about five hours.
The crash occurred on US 98 North at Earnest Road; Polk County Fire Rescue and deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched at around 3:16 am.
Based on evidence and statements, PCSO Traffic Homicide detectives have determined that a semi-truck was northbound on US 98 North while the victim’s 2020 Chevy Silverado was traveling south. The driver of the pickup truck attempted to pass another southbound vehicle and entered the northbound lane while doing so, which placed him directly into the path of the semi-truck.
The driver of the semi-truck and his passenger, both from Orlando, were uninjured during the crash.
The driver of the Chevy pick-up, a 36-year old Tampa man, was killed instantly.
All three men were wearing seatbelts.
No criminal or civil charges are expected, but the crash remains under investigation.
Fort Meade – Robert A. Bell, age 88, passed away Friday, August 16, 2024. He was born May 9, 1936 in Fort Meade, FL to Adrian & Katherine Bell. He graduated from Fort Meade High School. Robert went to the University of Florida where he played in the Gator Marching Band. He then joined the US Army. Robert was the Owner/Operator of Bell Typewriter Sales & Service in Fort Meade, he was honored to provide typewriter repair services for all schools in Polk, Hardee, Highlands, Desoto and Hillsborough for 60 plus years, he was initially trained by his father AP Bell starting in his late teens. Robert was a member of the Fort Meade Methodist Church and a lifelong Florida Gator fan.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years Virginia Hancock Bell of Fort Meade, three sons Ronnie Bell, Robbie Bell & wife Melony and Paul Bell & wife Kim, daughter Leigh Belcher & husband Joe all of Fort Meade. Twelve grandchildren Ashley Barnett & husband Wesley, Whitnie Hettum & husband Emmet, Laura Prazdnicane Bell, Tanner Bell & wife Emalee, Hunter Bell & wife Charli, Kaylee Lambert & husband Ryan, Katie Bell, Ginna Bell, Adrienne Bell, Cameron Belcher, Shannon Belcher and Robbie Belcher. Eight great grandchildren Tammy, Scout, Josie, Raleigh, Birdie, Colton, Lily and Abby.
Family will receive friends Tuesday, August 20, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm at McLean Funeral Home in Fort Meade, FL.
Funeral service will follow at 2:00 pm Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at McLean Funeral Home.
Burial will be held at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Meade, FL.
Memorials may be made to the Methodist Church, 135 E. Broadway, Fort Meade, FL 33841 or Alzheimer’s Association. Condolences to the family at www.WhiddenMcLeanfuneralhome.com
On August 14, 2024, Polk County Sheriff’s deputies in our Northeast district responded to the parking lot of a shopping center off of Highway 192 in the Clermont area of unincorporated Polk County, after receiving a report from a concerned citizen that a bus selling marijuana illegally was operating in the area.
Upon their arrival, deputies encountered an Eldorado Bus that was decorated with multiple marijuana leaves, named “Cannibus Mobile Dispensary” (CMD). The exterior of the bus advertised that “No Medical Card [was] Required” to purchase marijuana within.
Inside the bus was a sign stating: “NO MEDICAL CARD? NO PROBLEM! USE OURS! FOR $5.” Use of another individual’s medical marijuana card to purchase marijuana is illegal in Florida.
Detectives located online advertisements of the “Cannibus” which called their operation “FL’s 1st Recreational Dispensary.” Medical marijuana is legal in the State of Florida, but the recreational use of marijuana is illegal. FSS 381.986 requires that individuals obtain a physician’s recommendation, then register with the state to obtain a medical card before one is allowed to legally purchase the product from state-licensed dispensaries.
Jimmy Andrial has a personal use medical marijuana card. Jimmy and Bianca told detectives they purchased the marijuana from a licensed supplier unpackaged with Jimmy’s card, then purchased their own packaging material and packaged the marijuana for sale themselves. They do not have a state-issued license to sell marijuana. They refused to tell detectives where they purchased the marijuana and the packaging materials.
During a search of the bus, detectives found multiple containers of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a digital scale with cocaine residue, vape cartridges, and packaging materials. Deputies located a multicolor package containing green leafy substance with a warning label that stated the following: “GOVERNMENT WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CANNABIS, A SCHEDULE 1 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.” The substance tested positive for marijuana. A total of 12 packages of marijuana were located. Each package is labeled 3.5 grams, making the total amount located well over the 20 gram threshold to be a felony.
Daniel McCreary, Jimmy Andrial, and Bianca Andrial were all arrested. While being arrested, McCreary became physical and resisted arrest. Jimmy Andrial threatened the detectives during his arrest and stated that he had been to prison four times, and has battered Law Enforcement Officers in the past.
“I thank the concerned citizen who brought the ‘Cannibus’ to our attention. Our detectives easily discovered that this was not a legitimate medical cannabis dispensary and these drug-pushers were out-right selling marijuana to anyone who wanted to buy it. We arrested three suspects who all have prior criminal histories. Something tells me these folks might have been over sampling their own products.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Those arrested are:
Daniel McCreary (37) – An employee of the CMD. According to the Florida Department of Corrections website, he has been to prison three times for Robbery, Burglary, and Grand Theft in Osceola County. (Link) He is currently charged with Resisting Arrest (M1), Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell (F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), Possession of Marijuana over 20 Grams (F3), Keeping a Vehicle for Drug Sales (M1), and Possession of Cocaine (F3).
Jimmy Andrial (40) – The husband of Bianca Andrial and owner of the CMD. He has previously been arrested on 48 felony charges, and 48 misdemeanor charges in Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties. He has been to prison four times, for Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer, Burglary, Drug Possession and Grand Theft. He is currently charged with Possession of Marijuana over 20 Grams (F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell (F3), Solicitation to Purchase Marijuana (M1), Keeping a Vehicle for Drug Sales (M1), and Threatening a Public Servant (F3).
Bianca Andrial (35) – The wife of Jimmy Andrial, and owner of the CMD. She has previously been arrested for Battery and Resisting arrest by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, and Battery by the Orlando Police Department. She is currently charged with Possession of Marijuana over 20 Grams (F3), Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell (M1), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (F3), Keeping a Vehicle for Drug Sales (M1), and Solicitation to Purchase Marijuana (M1).
Our investigation is still ongoing. We are actively investigating the online portion of the CMD business, and are looking into the suppliers of both the marijuana and the packaging materials.
