A two vehicle crash occurred in the Kathleen area of Lakeland Saturday night, December 30, 2023, and resulted in the death of one of the drivers.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched at 8:54pm to the crash scene at Deeson Road and Greenfield Road, along with members from Polk County Fire Rescue.
41-year old Larry Varnum of Lakeland suffered serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital where he died shortly thereafter.
The other driver, an 18-year old female from Lakeland was uninjured. Her 18-year old female passenger from Colorado suffered minor injuries and was also transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Deeson Road was closed for about three hours while PCSO’s Traffic Homicide Investigations and Forensic Investigations collected evidence and statements.
According to the preliminary investigation, it was determined that Mr. Varnum had been driving a black 1996 Honda motorcycle eastbound on Deeson Road, while a blue 2021 Ford Eco, occupied by the two females, was traveling westbound.
The Ford Eco made a left turn to go south on Greenfield Road, and in doing so, it crossed the path of Mr. Varnum’s motorcycle.
The two vehicles collided, and Mr. Varnum was ejected from the motorcycle.
Detectives are still trying to determine if Mr. Varnum was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. A damaged helmet was found at the scene.
Also, witness statements indicated that the motorcycle’s headlight may not have been operating prior to the crash, and that too is still being examined.
Mr. Varnum’s driver’s license was suspended in 2011, and he never had a motorcycle endorsement.
Haines City, Florida – The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a three vehicle crash that occurred December 29th at 7:00pm. The crash happened at the intersection of Lee Jackson Memorial Highway and US 17/92.
According to Sergeant Steve Gaskins, Public Affairs Officer, with the FHP a Toyota sedan, driven by a 79 yr old Haines City woman, was traveling westbound on US-17/92. Vehicle #2, a Chevy pickup, was traveling eastbound on US-17/92. Near the intersection of Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, the Toyota sedan attempted to turn left into a Publix parking lot located at 617 US-17 North. The Toyota entered the path of and was struck by the Chevy pickup. The 3rd vehicle, a Mazda van which was exiting the parking lot, was struck by the other vehicles.
A passenger traveling in the Toyota, a 58 yr old Haines City man, was transported to an area hospital where he later expired from injuries suffered during the crash. The driver of the Toyota suffered serious injuries. Both drivers of the other vehicles suffered no injuries.
The FHP adheres strictly to Marsy’s Law thus no names are released of victims in motor vehicle crashes.
On Thursday, December 28, 2023, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Pope Lane off of Bethlehem Road in unincorporated southwest Polk County regarding a well-being check of an elderly woman. When deputies arrived on-scene they detected a strong odor of ammonia around and inside the home, and once inside, observed feces throughout the house and over 30 cats inside. The deputies requested the PCSO Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit to respond.
Detectives responded to the scene, and upon arrival made contact with the suspect, 57-year-old Sharon Cochran. Detectives observed that the floor of the residence was covered with feces, the air was very difficult to breathe, and multiple cats were running throughout the residence. Piles of trash and garbage were located throughout the residence, and several cats appeared to be underweight and in need of proper care. One dog was also located in a bedroom of the residence that was also breathing the poor-quality air. Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the residence and recorded an ammonia reading inside the residence of 15 ppm using an ammonia meter; 0 ppm is normal breathing air. The air inside the residence was not fit for humans or animals to be breathing or living in for any extended period of time.
Detectives and Animal Control representatives removed one dog and 35 cats from within the house. Cat feces and roaches were in every room of the residence. There were no litter boxes found. The air conditioning was non-operational, preventing a sufficient supply of air from circulating in the house. Cochran was taken into custody and charged with 36 counts of animal neglect (M1).
Cochran is the sole caregiver of an 82-year-old woman with limited mobility; she was also charged with one count neglect of an elderly person (F3). The victim was relocated to family members.
“This is the second case in a week where we have found a woman who, thinking she is helping, ended up hoarding animals. The victim is now in the care of other family members, and the animals are being examined by our Animal Control veterinary staff. It is our hope they will be rehabilitated and able to be adopted out to loving homes.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit investigated a single-vehicle traffic crash with a fatality yesterday (December 28, 2023) around 9:00 a.m. on Commonwealth Avenue (SR 33) near Hacienda Trail in Polk City.
According to the evidence at the scene, it appears that 29-year-old April Cruz of Lakeland was driving a black 2008 Honda Civic northbound on Commonwealth when she lost control of the car, which began rotating clockwise and then off the road, striking a large pine tree. She was deceased inside the car when first responders arrived. She was wearing a seat belt and the airbags did deploy.
The roadway was reduced to one lane for approximately three hours during the investigation, which is ongoing. There were no other occupants in the car and there did not appear to be any other vehicles involved.
Admittedly, it’s become a grossly reductive cliché to compare any sci-fi flick to Star Wars. After all, even films based on stories that pre-date it like John Carter and Dune are unfairly compared to a film that, either directly or indirectly, drew influence from said stories. However, if anything, the comparison only speaks volumes of the lingering influence of the 1977 blockbuster and how it set the bar for sci-fi films that followed.
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon is no exception. If anything, the comparison is especially apt. Initially, Snyder had pitched the idea for a gritty, “mature” R-rated Star Wars movie. When Lucasfilm rejected his pitch, he filed off the serial numbers from his script and sent it to Netflix, which approved his idea for a film “inspired” by Star Wars.
So, essentially, Zack Snyder directed a Star Wars movie that isn’t really a Star Wars movie but is totally a Star Wars movie. Moreover, this film is only the first part of a multi-part saga, with not only the second part being released in the near future, but also a prequel comic series and a director’s cut scheduled for early next year.
But will Rebel Moon make Lucasfilm regret rejecting Snyder’s initial pitch, or will it have Snyder fanboys insisting that the Director’s Cut is better?
Stop me if you heard this story before: a young wide-eyed farmhand from a backwater planet gets roped into a rebellion against an evil galactic empire, which involves the teaming up with talking robots, sarcastic smugglers, and an elderly warrior and setting off on a star-traveling adventure with ray guns, laser swords, and spaceship dog fights.
Okay! Admittedly, comparing Rebel Moon to Star Wars is slightly disingenuous. If anything, the movie is more akin to Seven Samurai or Magnificent Seven. The protagonist, Kora,
is a villager from a farming planet which is being forced by the empire to give up its food supply. So, she ventures out to find and recruit fighters to help her village fight against their evil overlords. But will she succeed? Or is there more to her story than she and the others are letting on?
Rebel Moon is a Zack Snyder movie. I don’t merely state that to point out the obvious. I mean that the movie has all of the elements, both good and bad, that can be expected from a film directed by Zack Snyder. On the plus side, the film exhibits grandiose visuals and exciting action scenes with plenty of blood, gore, and grit to appease any adolescent male filmgoer. On the other hand, all this cinematic splendor remains about as deep as the spray paint on an 80s-style fantasy van mural.
In fairness, like Snyder’s other films, Rebel Moon certainly has the potential to be a good movie. Within its two-and-a-half-hour runtime, the movie certainly crams in plenty of extensive worldbuilding for its elaborate sci-fi setting. Admittedly, it also has plenty of cool characters, from a dual laser sword-wielding Samurai swordswoman to a slave who wins his freedom by taming and flying an untamable griffin.
In the hands of a competent director, these characters and setting would have the potential to be better fleshed out with compelling character and story arcs. Sadly, Rebel Moon is directed by the same dude who thought it was a good idea to have Superman snap a man’s neck and for him and Batman to bond over the fact that their mothers share the same name of “Martha.” As such, this movie is a pure style-over-substance spectacle filled with stock characters with flatter-than-cardboard personalities who spout excruciatingly long exposition lore dumps and follow trite trope-ridden plot beats.
In other words, it’s a typical Zack Snyder film.
Overall, Rebel Moon is what you would come to expect from Zack Snyder directing what another movie critic has fittingly dubbed “Star Warz: Extreme powered by Monster Energy.” Sadly, I highly doubt that a second movie, let alone a director’s cut, will be able to salvage this spectacularly beautiful yet dull mess of a story.
I would say the only people who would enjoy this film are Snyder fanboys, yet considering this film’s female protagonist who’s physically-competent yet not conventionally-attractive, I’d imagine they’re too busy decrying her as a “Mary Sue” in “woke garbage.”
Around 11:45 a.m. today, VSO deputies and City of Ormond Beach firefighters were dispatched to a crash on southbound I-95. A vehicle had gone off the highway, struck a pole, rolled, and ended up in a ditch with about three feet of water.
The vehicle was occupied by a woman and three small children, the oldest about 5 years old. Fortunately, there were only minor injuries and bystanders assisted the occupants out before first responders arrived. Unfortunately, all of the children’s Christmas gifts were in the vehicle.
Volusia County woman and three small children, the oldest about 5 years old, avoid Tradgedy
After the victims were transferred to an ambulance, the crew of Q93 went above and beyond by using a ladder to access the submerged vehicle and were able to salvage most of the gifts from the vehicle.
A human chain was formed and the firefighters passed the gifts to deputies, who moved them to dry land.
Because of these efforts, deputies were able to transport the gifts to the VSO office, where they were sorted, dried, supplemented with a few extra donated gifts, and then brought to the hospital for the children.
Thanks to the initiative of Q93 and some great teamwork between OBFD and VSO, this family’s Christmas is a little bit brighter despite the crash. Great work all!!
On December 25, 2023, at approximately 0450 hours, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to Café Lungo located at 3626 Vineland Road, Kissimmee Florida to a report of a shooting.
When deputies arrived on the scene they located the victim, Terrell Williams was deceased at the location. This is an active investigation as detectives are working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.
At this moment it appears to be an isolated incident.
A 40-year-old Lakeland woman who was riding down West Pipkin Road in Lakeland on a motorized wheelchair was killed by a Plant City man who was then arrested and charged with DUI Manslaughter on December 24, 2023.
Around 6:00 p.m. that evening, Howard Bennett, DOB 1/16/1956, of Old Mulberry Road in Plant City, was heading east down West Pipkin Road approaching the intersection with Fairfield Drive in Lakeland in his 2019 silver Mazda CX5, when he struck Leslie Stone who was on her powered wheelchair mobility device heading east on the roadway.
The deputies who arrived observed Bennett stumbling while walking and using their patrol vehicle for support, and that he had bloodshot and watery eyes and spoke with slurred speech. They also detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Bennett’s breath. After a field sobriety test, Bennett was taken into custody.
Bennett provided two breath samples; one measured .159 G/210 L, and the other .158G/210 L. Both samples were nearly twice the legal threshold of 0.08 G/210L.
Bennett was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with DUI Manslaughter (F2), DUI .15 or higher with property damage (M1), and DUI with property damage (M1).
“Our prayers are with Ms. Stone’s family. To lose a loved one this way is awfully tragic, but especially during the holiday season. We hope and pray our citizens will make better choices than this suspect did – please celebrate the holidays responsibly.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
A Polk County Sheriff’s Office civilian member who works in the jail food services section was arrested and charged with one count battery domestic violence (M1) — he was suspended upon his arrest, and the investigation is ongoing.
Marquarious Gaskins is 22 years old and was hired in 2021. He lives in Winter Haven with his girlfriend, who is also a civilian agency member.
Gaskins applied to be a detention deputy and during the second background investigation (all applicants undergo a background check before hire, this was an additional one for consideration to be a deputy) investigators learned from a neighbor that there was recent arguing and screaming coming from the house where Gaskins and the victim live.
When deputies interviewed the victim, they observed a cut on her lip and a broken acrylic fingernail. She told deputies the couple got into an argument that escalated, leading her to go into the bathroom to retreat. Gaskins banged on and kicked the door until it opened, and the door hit her in the face. Her nail was broken as they fought over control of a cell phone.
Gaskins was booked into the Polk County Jail and released after posting $5,000 bond.
“Both the victim and Gaskins were completely honest and cooperative during this investigation, which is still underway. He is no longer a candidate for a detention deputy or deputy sheriff position at this time.” – Grady Judd
On December 22, 2023 at 11:46 pm Florida Highway Patrol Troopers monitoring traffic and conducting speed enforcement along Interstate 4 observed a Volkswagen sedan traveling westbound near Milepost 35 at 119 MPH in a posted 70 MPH speed zone and driving in a reckless manner. The Troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle increased its speed and fled from the Troopers with its lights turned off. The fleeing vehicle entered Hillsborough County and reached speeds in excess of 130 MPH, continuing until Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard where the suspect exited the interstate and traveled westbound. The vehicle’s tires eventually disintegrated and with the vehicle now disabled, the suspect stopped at East Lake Avenue and North 34th Street. The suspect, John Dylan Butler, 20, of Apollo Beach, Florida then surrendered without incident.
Following Butler’s arrest, Troopers located drug paraphernalia, 886 oxycodone pills, and a large amount of marijuana. Butler was delivered to the Polk County Jail, charged with fleeing & eluding, reckless driving, and several felony drug charges.
