Michael Justin Cerullo, 29 of Lake Wales, Florida passed away unexpectedly on January 28,2022 in Cairo, Ga
Justin was born May 9, 1992, in Bartow, Fl.
Justin is survived by his wife, Meagan Cerullo, sons, Michael, Roman and Daniel Cerullo, Ricky, Liam, and Joquain Mercado.
Daughters, Mia and Bella Mercado.
Justin is also survived by his mother, Patricia Spires (Clayton) Cairo, Ga. Father Christopher Cerullo (Rita) Lake Wales, Fl. Brothers Jason Cerullo, Nashville, Tn. Clayton Spires, Cairo, Ga Otis Sharpe III, Lake Wales, David Slone II, Lake Wales, Fl Sisters, Hannah Spires (and Ty Handley) Cairo, Ga., Tawny Todd, ( JJ) Cairo, Ga, Brandy Thomas, Ft Meade, Fl. Mandy Hall (Jason) Bostwick, Fl. Rebel Worth (Dustin) Lake Wales.
And many aunts, Uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Family will receive friends on Saturday, February 19, 2022 from 10:00 am until service time at 11:00 AM at the Marion Nelson Funeral Home with Rev. David Durham officiating. Interment will be held at the Whidden Cemetery in Lake Wales.SERVICES
Commercial Fire Off Combee Rd In Lakeland (Thank you to M. Brule for use of photo.)
While a commercial structure fire destroyed an East Lakeland warehouse Thursday, Polk County Fire Rescue firefighters contained the blaze and protected the surrounding businesses.
Polk firefighters received a call about the fire at 1704 S. Combee Road in Lakeland about 11:08 a.m. Thursday. Crews arrived at the scene minutes later to find a warehouse owned by Greenstar Panels engulfed in flames. There were no reported injuries.
“We were able to confine the fire to the Greenstar property,” Polk Fire Rescue Chief Robert Weech said. “No one was injured and we were able to protect the surrounding structures and businesses. That’s what our folks are trained to do and they did that well today.”
More than 20 units, which also included units from the City of Auburndale, were at the scene to fight the fire. The fire was brought under control at 12:08 p.m. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
It should be noted that this is an unedited report of facts by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Department. 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.
On January 19, 2022, a PCSO detective was on Spirit Lake Road in Winter Haven when he observed company vehicles and equipment with out-of-state tags and several men performing what appeared to be possible illegal asphalt work in a convenience store parking lot; he immediately initiated an investigation. That particular detective has years’ worth of experience investigating and charging travelling scam artists who approach homeowners and businesses unsolicited, offering to perform (often unnecessary) asphalt work for cash. Once the victims are coerced into paying the suspects, shoddy work is done and the suspects leave town. When law enforcement gets involved, they discover the suspects are not licensed to work in the state of Florida and don’t carry workman’s compensation insurance.
During the investigation, detectives learned that 36-year-old Raymond Wolk, III of Michigan, claimed to be the owner of “County Asphalt and Trucking, LLC” with a Davenport, Florida address (a UPS Store PO Box), along with 28-year-old Henry Stanley of New Hampshire and 31-year-old David Menjivar of Texas, pressured the convenience store owner to allow them to pave the store’s parking lot. Wolk initially asked for $5000, but convinced the victim to pay $7000 instead. Once the work crew began laying the asphalt, Wolk attempted to coerce the victim to pay another $5000 for more asphalt work. The victim refused. County Asphalt has no permanent presence in Polk County.
Stanley then instructed the victim to write a $7000 check payable to Wolk personally. When the victim questioned this, he was told that Wolk wanted to cash it immediately and did not have a bank account in Florida. Detectives confirmed each of the financial transactions.
Additionally, detectives learned that earlier the same day Menjivar pressured a second victim who owns a business on Spirit Lake Road in Winter Haven, into paying $5,300 to pave a driveway area of the business’ parking lot. The asphalt laid at this location was already deteriorating and crumbling into gravel—no site preparation work was completed, no tack coat or binder course was used, and the asphalt temperature was not kept hot enough for a proper application.
Two additional victims have been identified. The Winter Haven Police Department is investigating those cases.
The suspects could not and did not provide the victims any proper paperwork to include business tax license, proof of workman’s comp insurance, or liability insurance. Detectives contacted the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud and confirmed the suspects do not have any form of insurance in the state of Florida, which is a felony.
Wolk, Stanley, and Menjivar knowingly and intentionally solicited the victims and performed unlicensed inferior work on their business properties, leaving the victims liable for any and all injuries that the suspects could have incurred on their property and/or damage they may have done to the victims’ properties. “County Asphalt and Trucking, LLC” did not, according to the affidavit, “complete any kind of site preparation work or use any form of ‘tack coat’ [or binder course] to adhere the new asphalt to the old pavement thus causing the new asphalt to be able to what is called by licensed professional asphalt companies as ‘slide’ and lead to quickly eroding and deteriorating from daily use of vehicles driving upon it.” Also, according to the affidavit, “The suspects also did not maintain the hot temperature needed to apply this new asphalt to the old asphalt in the victim’s parking lot thus causing ‘unraveling’ which is when the asphalt beings to crumble apart when drive upon by daily vehicle traffic and deteriorate quickly.”
The scammers used a number of different telephone numbers during these transactions, and, according to David Menjivar, those involved with County Asphalt and Trucking reside at various hotels in the Kissimmee area each night and they do not stay in the same location, thus making it extremely difficult for anyone to locate representatives of the asphalt company after work has been completed.
“These traveling scam artists are master manipulators. They prey on trusting people and leave victims with inferior work and holding the liability bag. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Please use local, reliable, licensed and known contractors to perform any work.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
On February 15, 2022, Raymond Wolk was arrested for:
· Scheming to Commit Fraud (F3) (2 counts)
· Fraud (F3) (2 counts)
· Grand Theft (F3) (2 counts)
· Failure to Secure Worker’s Comp Insurance (F3) (2 counts)
He was released after paying an $8000 bond.
Henry Stanley and David Menjivar have Polk County warrants for their arrests, charging them with:
· Scheming to Commit Fraud (F3)
· Fraud (F3)
· Grand Theft (F3)
· Failure to Secure Worker’s Comp Insurance (F3)
Polk County detectives ask that if you believe you’ve been a victim of this particular scam or these suspects to contact local law enforcement. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Menjivar and Stanley, call the Sheriff’s Office at 863-298-6200 or, if you wish to remain anonymous, or if you would like to receive a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspects, you can contact Heartland Crime Stoppers:
* Or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet.
You will always remain anonymous when you send a tip through Crime Stoppers and you are eligible for a cash reward if your information leads to an arrest.
During the early morning hours of Wednesday, February 16, 2022, a PCSO deputy sheriff who resigned immediately upon his arrest was arrested by PCSO for one count DUI (M-1).
According to the affidavit, around 1:45 a.m., Lakeland Police Officers were conducting a traffic stop of a female driver who was observed stopped in her car in the middle of South Florida Avenue near Orange Street “burning out” her tires (her vehicle remained stagnant but her tires were spinning, causing smoke to billow from the back spinning tires). She then drove westbound onto East Lemon Street and LPD conducted a traffic stop in the parking lot of Tropical Smoothie.
While talking to the driver, 22-year-old Jalynn Guinn, LPD Officers observed another vehicle pull into an adjacent parking lot, and the Hispanic male driver, later identified as 27-year-old Michael Gonzalez-Lauzan of Lakeland, approach. They asked Gonzalez-Lauzan to stop and wait for them to talk with him, but he continued walking towards them, and then told them that he was an off-duty Polk County Deputy. He was agitated and becoming irate, and the officers could smell the odor of alcohol on him. They contacted PCSO to respond. Meanwhile, Guinn also identified herself as an off-duty Polk County Deputy.
When deputies arrived, they talked to Gonzalez-Lauzan, who told them that he and Guinn were leaving Linksters bar when he saw LPD pull her over. He said he came over to tell her to turn her car off, and then backed off after they shined a flashlight in his eyes. Deputies conducted field sobriety tests with Gonzalez-Lauzan, during which he exhibited several signs of being impaired. Deputies arrested him and transported him to the Sheriff’s Processing Center, where he provided two breath samples of 0.164/210L and 0.160/201L (the legal threshold is 0.08/210L).
Gonzalez-Lauzan was booked into the Polk County Jail for DUI, and was released after posting $500 bond. He resigned from PCSO effectively immediately upon his arrest. Had he not resigned, he would have been terminated. He was hired as a deputy sheriff in 2019.
Guinn is being issued a traffic citation by Lakeland P.D. for careless driving, and has also resigned from PCSO. She was hired in January 2021.
Downtown Frostproof Gets Down with Valentines Street Dance
by James Coulter
For the fourth consecutive year, the City of Frostproof drew quite a crowd of residents and visitors downtown for a good, old-fashioned street dance with live music, food trucks, and overall good company.
Attendees could peruse various food trucks for something to eat, as well as a few vendors from local organizations and businesses. The Frostproof Volunteer Firefighters, Ladies Auxiliary sold strawberry shortcakes to help raise money for the city fire department.
Stacey Ennis loved being able to attend that evening’s event. She especially enjoyed seeing so many people come together to have a good time, with a few of them helping to support a good cause by purchasing their wares.
“It is packed with a lot of people,” she said. “It brings the community out…[and we hope] to continue raising money for our fire department. Go Frostproof!”
Performing that evening was Bryce Mauldin, who played live music alongside Dj JMoney. As someone who lives in Webster, Fl, Mauldin appreciates being able to host a gig in Central Florida not too far from his hometown.
With this being his first time in Frostproof, he was enamored with the small town and its street dance. He felt the turnout that evening was impressive, and he felt everyone enjoyed the event and had a good time with it.
“My expectations are for the 90 minutes I am on stage, to let people cut loose and let them forget about Monday, making people happy and making them dance and move, forget about real life, and let them live in the moment,” he said.
For the past three years, Frostproof has been hosting its biannual street dance downtown along Wall Street in front of the Ramon Theater. The city typically hosts two dances every year for the fall and Valentine’s Day, respectively.
For the past four years, the street dance has been bringing the local townsfolk together. The tradition started shortly after the town’s 100th anniversary three years ago when hanging lights were hung over North Wall Street. Ever since, they have been making good use of the lighted streetscape with these events.
Vice Mayor Austin Gravely has been overseeing the event since its inception. Even an hour into the street dance, it experienced a great turnout that evening, even in spite of the recent cold weather. He also has high expectations for the upcoming Orange Blossom Festival this Saturday.
“I like seeing everybody have a good time with an event free to the public,” he said. “I think the community loves the event. I will say it every time: everyone loves coming out, eating good food, having a good time.”
– A new fuel farm is becoming a reality at the Lake Wales Municipal Airport. City commission authorized a public transportation grant agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation.
The grant is for the installation of a new fuel farm designed to efficiently dispense aviation fuel to multiple types of aircraft.
“This is great timing, and it’s a nice complement to the recent runway expansion and newly added taxiways at the airport,” City Manager James Slaton said.
The new fuel farm will replace the antiquated fuel system already budgeted for replacement in the City’s 2022 capital improvement plan.
The new enhancement will attract larger jets to the city, helping to expand the City’s efforts in economic development.
“This added convenience is going to attract more people to fly to Lake Wales for an extended stay,” Airport Manager Amanda Kirby said.
The grant was awarded after the reconstruction of the fuel ramp.
On Thursday, February 17, Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. will close Golfview Cutoff Road from State Road 17 (N. Scenic Highway) to Bryan Road in Babson Park for two days to upgrade track components and improve crossing pavement. The project is the second of six rail repairs scheduled along nearly nine miles of Florida Midland tracks from Lake Wales to Frostproof. Traffic will be detoured to bypass closed crossing. Commuters are advised to drive carefully, follow detour signs, and add extra time to trips through this area.
Local State of Emergency Declared to Address Missed Waste Collection
Bartow, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2022) — The Polk County Board of County Commissioners declared a local state of emergency Tuesday following the ongoing missed residential waste collection within unincorporated Polk.
The missed collections, which persist in the county,endanger the public health, safety and welfare of Polk residents.. The declaration, which has been used before in local emergency situations, provides the county manager the tools to be able to respond to the emergency and remove certain procurement procedures that could prolong immediate solutions.
The declaration approved by a unanimous vote Tuesday allows the county manager to take the following actions:
Utilize all available resources of the county government as reasonably necessary to cope with the emergency;
Make provisions for the availability and use of temporary emergency housing and the emergency warehousing of materials;
Acquire merchandise, equipment, vehicles, or property needed to alleviate the emergency.
Through this, the county also waives the procedures and formalities normally required by law to:
Performance of public work and taking whatever prudent action is necessary to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the community;
Entering into contracts;
Incurring obligations;
Employment of temporary or permanent workers;
Rental equipment;
Acquisition and distribution, with or without compensation, of supplies, materials and facilities;
WineDOWNtown Brings Lake Wales Residents Downtown to Enjoy Local Businesses
by James Coulter
More than 20 local shops and boutiques remained open after hours to allow residents an opportunity to browse their wares and sample drinks and food during the annual WineDOWNtown on Thursday evening.
Hosted by Lake Wales Main Street, the downtown event allowed residents and visitors alike to purchase tickets and travel to various downtown businesses to sample wine, craft beer, and appetizers while also seeing what each store had to offer.
More than 20 stores and boutiques participated that evening, including Cocoa Cake Studio, Kathyrn’s Bookstore, and many others. For many residents, it was their first time visiting these places, even if they are located in their own hometown, said Karen Thompson, LWMS Executive Director.
“Some of these people did not even know these businesses were even here, so it is just people gathering and going to different places,” she said.
Lake Wales Main Street is a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing the downtown area and hosting events to draw people, especially potential customers, to local businesses. WineDOWNtown proves especially popular, as it actually draws people inside downtown businesses.
“It is always a sold-out event,” she said. “We can bring thousands of people downtown, but we cannot guarantee that they go inside. This is the event we can say 350 people were inside your business.”
Amanda Calhoun owns and operates Southern Roots, a salon that also serves as a boutique that sells home decor, gifts, and accessories. Her business has been around for nearly a decade, and this event allowed even more potential customers to learn more about it.
“It think it has been very good,” she said. “We had a lot of good feedback. Meeting new people and socializing. They met our expectations.”
Rachel Cullen has been running Cocoa Cake Studio for three years. Her business sells custom cakes, cake pops, and other baked goods. That evening alone, she saw many people she normally does not see arrive to her shop, so she hopefully was introduced to many new customers.
“It is a good chance to bring people downtown that we normally do not get to see and it is a huge turnout so far,” she said. “We were slammed when they were open. [It] more than met our expectations.”
Forget the Winter Olympics. Forget the Super Bowl. The real athletic competition involved tossing fake poop into toilets, tossing rings at beer bottles, and watching chickens poo on bingo boards.
The Moose Lodge of Winter Haven hosted its inagural Redneck Games on Saturday afternoon. Attendees could purchase tickets and test their skills at nearly a dozen “classy” games, including Nerf gun targets, toilet sh*t toss, and chicken sh*t bingo. The more games they won, the more chances they had at winning prizes and trophies. They could also enjoy a casual afternoon with barbecue, bounce houses, a dunk tank, and live musical performances.
Proceeds went towards the reconstruction of the docks near the Moose Lodge. Ed Willis, Moose Lodge president, explained that they plan on rebuilding the dock area, adding beach sand along the shore near the canal, and constructing a tiki hut area behind their concession area to create a weekend bar.
“We have prime property over here and we are letting it go to waste,” he said. “We need to open this place up and put everyone in the Moose.”
While the event that day was slow at first, attendance quickly grew into a fantastic turnout. He loved seeing so many people come together, and he hopes to host the event again with a similar, if not larger, turnout next year.
“[I love] the fellowship and people,” he said. “You can bring people all under one roof, and you have a good time. We will do another one next year. We will continue it, and it will get bigger and better.”
Branden Crawford was one of the musical artists who performed. He loves being able to perform his music for his fans, especially for a great cause such as this, he said. He loves being able to interact with and give back to a community that has done so much to support him.
“All these people come to my gigs to support my music, so this is something I can do to support my appreciation for them and help moose lodge out,” he said. “Everybody so far are people I know and love and they are friendly and just going to have a good time and it will be a lot of fun.”
Mike Myers, Vice President, has a son who is a close friend of Crawford. He appreciated seeing so many people like him come together to have a good time and help support a good cause. He appreciated the turnout, and he has more than high expectation for the dock refurbishments.
“I am enjoying the outcome of people coming together and supporting one another, and that is what we need in this time today,” she said. “Everything is turning out real good. We hope things work in our favor.”
Melanie Brown Culpepper volunteered for the event to help out Willis, who is a good friend of hers. As someone who is involved with many local committees and fundraisers, Melanie loves to get involved any way she can to help give back to her community.
“That’s what we do. We give back to each other and help each other,” she said. “I think it is a beautiful day that turned out really good…I want to give back and help the Moose Lodge because they want to help bring more people come in through the lake and dock…and it is all about helping each other and the community.”
