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Suspect Who Opened Fire On Lakeland Police Officers Tuesday Evening Caught In Tampa Early This Morning

Carl Fish
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Suspect Who Opened Fire On Lakeland Police Officers Tuesday Evening Caught In Tampa Early This Morning

LAKELAND, FL (August 28, 2024) – On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, at approximately 5:00 p.m., two Lakeland Police Detectives were conducting surveillance in the 1800 block of Plateau Village Drive and parked in their unmarked police vehicle when they were approached by one of the suspects in this case, Arthur Jared Williams (age 18). Williams was not the intended target of their surveillance. Williams was also present with Abdul Milik Littles (age 22) and Littles’ vehicle, a red Nissan Maxima. 

The detectives were wearing shirts clearly and prominently marked with police insignias, along with badges, duty weapons and other police equipment. Williams walked up to the police vehicle, looked inside and asked the detectives if they had some marijuana. Realizing their surveillance was compromised, the detectives took a photograph of Williams and Littles, then left the area.

The two detectives were later patrolling in the 1100 block of Atlantic Avenue around 5:45 p.m. where they saw the same red Nissan Maxima in the roadway. Standing next to the vehicle was Williams and Littles. As the detectives drove past them, Williams pointed his fingers at the detectives, simulating the firing of a gun. 

After passing them, one of the detectives looked in his rear-view mirror to see Williams holding a handgun. Williams then started shooting directly at the detective’s vehicle. The police vehicle was struck 5 times. Video surveillance from the area was obtained which showed Williams firing his handgun 15 times. The two suspects fled the area in the Maxima.

With the valuable assistance of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and an intense search for the suspects immediately began. 

In the early morning hours around 1:25 a.m., Williams and Littles were located at a residence in Tampa. The two called for an Uber to pick them up in an attempt to distance themselves from the vehicle.  After they left the residence in the Uber, a traffic stop was performed and the two were taken into custody. The Uber driver was extremely cooperative and it was learned the two were headed back to an address on Plateau Avenue in Lakeland.

Williams was arrested for two counts of Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer in the 2ndDegree (with a firearm) and two counts of Shooting Into an Occupied Vehicle. Littles was arrested on unrelated charges by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. However, Littles remains a suspect in this case and charges may be forthcoming. Both were transported to the Hillsborough County Jail. 

Through facts learned during investigation, Williams clearly knew the detectives he was shooting at were law enforcement officers. 

This investigation remains open and active.

All the members of the Lakeland Police Department wish to express their appreciation to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigations for their cooperation and resources given to assist our agency after this horrific assault on our detectives, and bring the suspects responsible to justice. 

Can Carl & Shelly Really Do A 4 Day, 3 Night New England Getaway For Less Than $400 A Person

Motorcyclist Killed In Lakeland Crash Early Friday Evening

Carl Fish
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Motorcyclist Killed In Lakeland Crash Early Friday Evening

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit investigated a vehicle versus motorcycle traffic fatality last evening in north Lakeland, Friday, August 23, 2024, around 6:20 p.m. The driver of a black 2001 Mustang, 33-year-old Shannon Lally of Polk City, had just picked up her daughter at the school bus stop on Melody Lane at the intersection with Deen Still Road. Lally made a U-turn in the intersection to go the other way on Melody Lane to her home when a 2009 Ducati motorcycle that was heading west on Deen Still crashed into her. Lally told deputies she looked both ways before making the U-turn and did not see any oncoming traffic.

Elon and Trump interview, A Train Wreck or Victim of Overwhelming Success?

 

The motorcyclist, 44-year-old Michael Goodman of Mulberry, suffered significant injuries, to which he succumbed after being transported to the hospital. Nobody in the Mustang was injured.

J.C. Reviews: Borderlands Was Bad But Not Boring

Staff Reporter
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J.C. Reviews: Borderlands Was Bad But Not Boring
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by James Coulter

Once upon a time, video game adaptations were considered box office poison. From the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros movie to Street Fighter and BloodRayne, films based on video games were consistently never good. Not only did they fail to accurately reflect the games they were adapting, but they also failed to be proper movies in and of themselves.

However, recently, video game adaptations, both big screen and small, have seen a significant shift in quality. Both Mario and Sonic have experienced box office success with their respective movies, and Fallout has proven to be one of the best series streaming on Amazon Prime.

So, with this recent wave of video game adaptations that are actually good, one would assume the Borderlands movie, based upon the popular sci-fi first-person open-world shooter, would also be good. But does this movie live up to the hype of the AAA game it’s based upon? Or do fans need to hunt for more loot boxes until they find the treasure they’re searching for?

Borderlands is set in space within a dystopian future—specifically, on the planet Pandora. (No, not the planet from Avatar!) Legend has it that the ultimate power of the universe, created by an ancient alien species, is hidden somewhere on that planet in a location known as the Vault. An evil corporation (is there any other?) called Atlas is dead set on finding this ancient power and claiming it for itself—because money!

This is where our protagonist steps in. Lilith, a bounty hunter, is hired by Atlas to track down a young girl, Tiny Tina, who is suspected of being “the key” to locating and finding The Vault. However, rather than return Tina to the Atlas Corporation, Lilith instead decides to protect the child and track down The Vault herself.

Lilith is joined on her quest by an eclectic band of equally eccentric characters, including the robot ClapTrap, a renegade solider named Roland, and a mad scientist named Dr. Patricia Tannis. Will this ragtag group of ruffians be able to find the Vault before the evil corporation does? And in doing so, become the guardians of their galaxy?

Confession time: I have never played the Borderlands games. (I’m more of a classic gamer than a modern gamer!) The only thing I know about them is that they are a first-person shooter set in a dystopian future in space. (So, essentially, Fallout meets Mass Effect.) Also, one of the characters, Tiny Tina, is voiced by Ashly Burch, who also voices Molly McGee in Disney’s The Ghost and Molly McGee.

So, as such, I will only be reviewing this movie as a movie and not as a video game adaptation. From what I have heard from fans through online discourse, this movie is nothing like the video games. So, I will take their word for it that this is not a good adaptation of the Borderlands games.

So, how does the movie stand on its own? Eh, not great. On the one hand, the entire movie reeks of, “We have Guardians of the Galaxy at home!” But on the other hand, the movie still has some charm despite being a discount Guardians.

Let’s not kid ourselves. This movie has some real A-list actors. Cate Blanchett. Jamie Lee Curtis. Kevin Hart. Even Jack Black as the eccentric robot ClapTrap. Say what you want about their performances in this movie. But even when they’re not at their best, they’re still pretty good actors.

My personal favorite is Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina. She is a real Chaotic Neutral hell gremlin with manic pixie nightmare girl energy, a spunky little brat who can throw insults as hard as she can her own homemade explosives. She gives me real Nimona energy. (Ariana also claimed she modeled her character after Margot Robbie, so, at the very least, she makes for a good discount Harley Quinn.)

Cate Blanchett as Lilith was also a fun character. From what I could glean, while she didn’t look exactly like the video game character she was based on, she still did an excellent job playing a world-weary yet still kickass bounty hunter. Watching her pack heat and pull off some really badass moves almost made me forget this was the same woman who played Galadriel and Hela. (From what I could glean from interviews, she said she chose that role to test her limits and versatility as an actress. And, well, while not perfect, she did a good enough job.)

Of course, most of the action scenes were pretty decent, but where the movie really shined was the comedy. I didn’t make the comparison to Guardians lightly. Where this movie really works is the overall camaraderie of a reluctant ragtag team of ruffians and how they comedically bounce off of each other through their witty banter and retorts. My favorite scene is where ClapTrap has to distract a mob of armed thugs, and as he does so, he blurts out a string of curse words—that he’s being told to say by Tiny Tina. (Sorry, that’s hilarious!)

Unfortunately, where the movie fails is the story. Again, I didn’t make the Guardians comparison lightly. I never played Borderlands, but the overall plot does feel like it was trying to copy Guardians’ homework, what with an evil villain trying to hunt down a cosmic McGuffin and a ragtag group of misfits trying to stop him. (Also, no spoilers, but one of the key plot points is that one of the characters is the “key” to unlocking the cosmic McGuffin. There’s a twist about that character and plot point you can see coming a mile away!)

Overall, while I cannot determine whether or not the movie does the game justice, I will take fans’ word that it doesn’t. But while the film is evidently imperfect, there’s still a sliver of good acting, witty comedy, and bombastic action scenes that will, at the very least, keep you entertained for nearly two hours. I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie in theaters, but I would say give it a chance once it comes out on streaming and rental. At the worst, it’s so bad it’s good!

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Cooking on the Ridge: Crockpot American Goulash

Staff Reporter
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Cooking on the Ridge: Crockpot American Goulash
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by James Coulter

Here on Cooking on the Ridge, I’ve been experimenting with various elaborate recipes, from cream cheese and bacon stuffed chicken breasts to pickle marinated ranch chicken.

However, sometimes you don’t want to prepare a meal that’s fancy, complicated, or over-the-top. Sometimes you want to make something simple and easy. (And sometimes, you want to cook something other than chicken!)

Sometimes, you don’t want to make something with a lot of flavor or fancy ingredients. Sometimes, you simply want a nice warm meal. Sometimes, you crave simple comfort food, something to make you feel better when you’re feeling down or having a bad day. (Like, for instance, your faithful dog of 11 years eventually passes away!)

So, for this week’s recipe, I opted to prepare a meal that was simple, easy to make, and overall comforting–a meal that brings back warm and happy memories of better days gone by, especially one’s childhood.

To me, two meals come to mind when I think of childhood comfort food. First, macaroni and cheese. And second, Hamburger Helper.

I loved Hamburger Helper as a kid. I loved the noodles and sauce mixed with the various seasonings to make something like spaghetti only fancier–or, at least fancy by the standards of a single-digit-old child.

Obviously, Hamburger Helper isn’t so much a recipe as it is something you make from a box. But for this article, I chose a recipe that’s close enough: American goulash.

If you think about it, American goulash is essentially a fancier version of Hamburger Helper: ground beef browned and mixed with tomato sauce, pasta, and seasoning. It’s a simple and filling meal that makes for a real emotional picker-upper.

Even better: this recipe is prepared using a slow cooker. So, all you need to do is brown the beef and dump it in along with the other ingredients into the crockpot, then set it and forget it for the rest of the day until dinner rolls around.

I admit, this recipe, while simple, managed to offer simple comfort, especially during a time when I wasn’t feeling all that comfortable. It’s a delectable form of emotional support that’s great for a rainy day–or even a not-so-rainy day!

The following recipe is from The Cookie Rookie:

Ingredients

· 2 pounds ground beef

· 1 large onion diced

· 4 garlic cloves minced

· 4 cups water

· 4 beef bouillon cubes

· 28 ounces crushed tomatoes 1 standard can

· 30 ounces petite diced tomatoes 2 15-ounce cans

· 2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce

· 3 bay leaves

· 2 tbsps Italian Seasoning

· 1 tsp salt

· 4 cups elbow macaroni

· 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. In a nonstick pan over medium heat, cook the ground beef until it’s no longer pink, about 7-10 minutes. Drain and add to the crockpot.

2. Add the onion, garlic, water, bouillon cubes, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, and salt. Stir well.

3. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2 hours.

4. 30 minutes prior to serving, stir in the macaroni. Cover and cook just until the noodles are tender.

5. Remove the bay leaves and stir in the cheddar cheese.

6. Serve immediately so that the pasta does not turn mushy.

Barricaded Suspect Who Reportedly Shot At Deputies Believed To Have Taken His Own Life

Carl Fish
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Barricaded Suspect Who Reportedly Shot At Deputies Believed To Have Taken His Own Life

Around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 22nd, we received information that a known wanted suspect, 45-year-old Matthew Bruce Coleman, was in the area of West Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland. In addition to his active warrant, he is well-known to law enforcement as a suspect in other crimes, and is considered to be armed and dangerous. The U.S. Marshals Service has been assisting PCSO in looking for him. The tip we received last night was that he was armed and threatening to injure any law enforcement officers who came looking for him.

 

When deputies arrived at the location, several witnesses reported that Coleman was possibly in a backyard shed. The deputies announced their presence, and were immediately confronted with several gunshots in their direction, coming out of the shed. Nobody was injured. Deputies established a perimeter and communications with Coleman, who repeatedly refused to surrender. The PCSO SWAT and Crisis Negotiations teams responded to the scene but eventually he ceased all communication with law enforcement. A chemical agent was introduced into the shed, after which time deputies made entry and found Coleman deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had two loaded handguns in the shed with him, along with several spent shell casings. 

Polk County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Dealing With Armed & Dangerous Barricaded Suspect In Lakeland

Carl Fish
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Polk County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Dealing With Armed & Dangerous Barricaded Suspect In Lakeland

Update: Barricaded Suspect Who Reportedly Shot At Polk Deputies Believed To Have Taken His Own Life

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!

City of Bartow To Spend 3.93 Million To Build New Municipal Aquatic Center With Annual Operating Expense of $500,000

Carl Fish
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City of Bartow To Spend 3.93 Million To Build New Municipal Aquatic Center With Annual Operating Expense of $500,000

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

Staff Reporter
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JC Reviews: Harold and the Purple Crayon is Creatively Uncreative

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.

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Lakeland DCF Worker Charged With Excessive DUI

Carl Fish
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Lakeland DCF Worker Charged With Excessive DUI

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).

Lakeland Man Takes Justice In His Own Hands & Ends Up In Jail

Carl Fish
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Lakeland Man Takes Justice In His Own Hands & Ends Up In Jail

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.

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