Polk County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Crash That Killed A 19-Year-Old Bartow Man

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November 26, 2019

Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigates crash that killed a 19-year-old Bartow man

A single vehicle crash near Alturas occurred Monday morning, November 25, 2019, and took the life of 19-year-old Adrian Saavedra Hernandez of Bartow.

The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a 911 call at 6:38 a.m., reporting that a crash had been discovered in a pasture on Alturas Road North, approximately one half mile south of State Road 60.

According to the preliminary investigation, Saavedra Hernandez had been driving north in a blue 2008 Honda 4-door and negotiating a curve in the roadway when he lost control of the car. The car spun off of the west side of the road, struck a fence, went airborne, then rolled an estimated five times.

Saavedra Hernandez was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car during the crash. He was pronounced deceased by Polk Fire Rescue upon their arrival at the scene.

Crash investigators believe that the crash may have occurred about four hours prior to being reported.

The speed limit in that area is 35-mph, and excessive speed appears to have been a factor in the crash.

The investigation is ongoing.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Responded to a Crash in Fort Meade This Morning After Vehicle Struck Building

Fort Meade

Staff Reporter

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November 26, 2019

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Polk County Sheriff’s Office Responded to a Crash in Fort Meade This Morning After Vehicle Struck Building

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash in Fort Meade this morning after a vehicle struck an unoccupied building at 11 West Broadway Street. The office of State Representative Melony Bell is in this building, but she was not there at the time of the crash.

The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a 911 call at 8:08 a.m. in which the caller stated that the driver of a city truck may have suffered a medical episode.

The driver was the only person involved in the crash, and was transported to the hospital for treatment.

The investigation is ongoing.

Reception Will Honor Retiring Physician Dr. James Nelson

Lake Wales

Staff Reporter

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November 26, 2019

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Reception Will Honor Retiring Physician Dr. James Nelson

LAKE WALES, Fla. — Dr. James Nelson, who has practiced Family Medicine in Lake Wales for more than three decades, will be honored at a retirement reception to celebrate his contributions to the community.

The reception will be held at 2 pm. Sunday, Dec. 8, in the hospital cafeteria. The afternoon will include a special video presentation, comments from the hospital COO, remembrances from former patients and office staff, and a proclamation from the city of Lake Wales. The community, particularly patients and former patients, are invited to attend.

Dr. Nelson, who began practicing in Lake Wales in 1986, has been a member of the Active Staff at AdventHealth Lake Wales (formerly Lake Wales Medical Center) since 1986, serving in several leadership positions, including two terms as Chief of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff, and Chief of Medicine. A former member of the hospital’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Nelson also served as Medical Director for the hospital’s Wound Care Center, and as Physician Advisor for the hospital.

“Dr. Nelson has been taking care of patients in our community for 33 years, and we know how deeply loved and respected he is,” said Rebecca Brewer, Chief Operating Officer at the hospital. “Our community will miss him, and we wish him well in his retirement.”

Dr. Nelson and his wife, Janie, have three adult children: James M. Nelson, Rev. Walter Nelson, and Mary Elizabeth Nelson Kipe.

adventhealthorlandonews.com

Brooks Law Group Gives 350 Turkeys At 7th Annual Giveaway

Winter Haven

Staff Reporter

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November 26, 2019

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Brooks Law Group Gives 350 Turkeys At 7th Annual Giveaway

by James Coulter

Everyone deserves to have a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving, even if they cannot afford it. Brooks Law Group ensured that most everybody in the Winter Haven community had that opportunity on Saturday.

The local law group offered more than 350 frozen turkeys during their seventh annual turkey giveaway on Saturday morning. Countless people lined up outside the building and even around the block to receive their free turkey and other canned goods.

For the past seven years, the law group has been hosting this giveaway to ensure that everyone in the local community, especially low-income individuals, have an opportunity to enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Some people even camp outside their law office around midnight for a chance to receive a free turkey, said Josh Miller, Marketing Director.

“Just the desire to give back to the community and help people out in need is what compels us [to do this] every year,” he said. “My favorite part is seeing the look on people’s face when they receive that turkey, to make sure they have a special Thanksgiving meal for them.”

Brooks Law Group is a personal injury and social security law firm with offices in Winter Haven, Lakeland, and Tampa. Steve Brooks, Marketing Partner, started the law firm in 1992 with only two employees, including himself. His staff has since grown to seven attorneys and his firm has expanded to two other offices, the most recent opening in Tampa.

Seven years ago, Brooks and his firm decided to offer free frozen turkeys to individuals within the local community. Their first year, they offered 50 turkeys; this year, they gave away 350 turkeys, he said.

Aside from the annual turkey giveaway, the law firm has also been involved with the local community through various local non-profit organizations such as Jobs For Life and One More Child.

what has allowed their annual giveaway to grow its outreach each and every year has been word-of-mouth, as well as the gracious support of local community organizations who help administer the event. As much as other people enjoy receiving a free turkey for Thanksgiving, Brooks and his staff enjoy providing them even more, he said.

“The whole staff really gets more out of this than the people who get the turkeys,” he said. “It is our way to join together as a firm and give back to the community. I enjoy meeting and talking with the people.”

Assisting with the giveaway was Restaurants Against Hunger, a non-profit organization that allows restaurants to collaborate on food drives and other initiatives to help combat hunger within their local communities and around the world.

Grant Piche, Chair for the Winter Haven operation, and his team help assist with the annual turkey giveaway, providing the canned goods while Brooks provides the frozen turkeys. This year they helped provide two piles of canned corn, green beans, and other vegetables. Their team also prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for people waiting in line.

Piche and his fellow volunteers have been assisting with the annual drive for the past three to four years. They also have been assisting with other local organizations such as The Mission, Meals on Wheels, churches and food pantries to help feed the local community.

“As far as this event goes, hopefully, it doesn’t get any bigger,” he said. “I don’t think hunger will ever go away, so we will have to step up and help our community…We have a motto, if you’re not serving somebody, serve somebody who is.”

Polk County Media Company Provided Over 30 Thanksgiving Dinners To Families in Need

Polk County News

Staff Reporter

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November 26, 2019

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Polk County Media Company Provided Over 30 Thanksgiving Dinners To Families in Need

by James Coulter

The Daily Ridge has always prided itself in serving Polk County with local and breaking news. Last Saturday, it helped serve the local community by providing 34 families in need with turkeys and food for Thanksgiving.

On Saturday, Daily Ridge Co-Founder Carl Fish, his wife Shelly, several Daily Ridge staff members, along with friends, family, and associates, gathered at the Lake Wales YMCA to pack boxes with canned goods and other food items.

These boxes were then delivered, along with frozen turkeys, to households in Lake Wales, Frostproof, Winter Haven, Lake Alfred, Wahneta, Bartow, Haines City, and Lakeland, ensuring that families were able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinners.

The boxes were packed that day with food items including canned vegetables, stuffing, bags of potatoes, dry gravy mixes, and baked desserts such as pies. The boxes of food and frozen turkeys were the delivered by gracious volunteers.

All of the food items were provided by The Daily Ridge, along with donations from the Fish family, the Kirchberg family, Daily Ridge Sponsors Prime Plus Real Estate, Babies-2-Bellies, Garrison Land Management, and Bob Schade Golf Instruction.

From The Daily Ridge: “We would like to thank our sponsors that donated, as well as The Lake Wales YMCA for offering the space to prepare the boxes to help us bless families this Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!!”

Tech Tuesday: Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the Busiest Times for Cyber Criminals

Staff Reporter

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November 26, 2019

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the busiest times for Cyber Criminals

By Kip Kirchberg

The two busiest shopping days of the year are fast approaching. As excited shoppers are prepared to rush out to stores on Black Friday to capture the deals of the year, others sit at home behind their computers waiting to capture online deals Cyber Monday. While these are exciting times for shoppers, this is also a very exciting time for Cyber Criminals.

According to Chain Store Age the highest percentage of credit card fraud occurs during the month of November. Criminals take advantage of the busiest shopping days of the year and utilize stolen credit cards to make their own purchases.

Black Friday holds the record for having the highest number of fraudulent credit card purchases made in person. Simply put most store associates are overwhelmed with busy shoppers and do not take the time to verify credit card holder information. This allows many criminals the ability to slip under the radar and get away with fraudulent in person credit card purchases.

To protect yourself please DO NOT use a bank debit card to make store or online purchases. If you do use a debit card to make purchases, you are putting your money and bank information at risk. Debit Cards give Cyber Criminals instant access to any cash you have in your bank account. In the event your debit card is stolen and your bank account is drained of all its cash, you could be facing a long and painful process attempting to recover lost funds. Fraudulent debit card account recovery can take anywhere from days to months and in rare cases the money may never be recovered.

Instead, protect yourself and utilize a credit card to make any in store or online purchases during this holiday shopping season. Federal law limits consumer liability for unauthorized usage. In most cases where fraudulent credit card purchases were made the Credit Card Company simply cancels the card, issues credits for unauthorized charges, and mails out replacement cards in a couple days. Much easier to deal with vs unauthorized debit card transactions.

Online cyber criminals utilize Cyber Monday as a way to capture new credit card data. Cyber criminals will send out an email called a “phishing email” to potential victims. On the surface the email will appear to be from a legitimate store or online retailers. Many times the email will contain the company logo’s, legitimate looking links, and create copy cat ads that are identical to what is advertised elsewhere.

In many cases, these picture perfect ad replicas can be almost impossible to detect even by a trained professional.

The objective of the Cyber Criminal is to get you to click on the email link they provided. Many times this link will ask you for login information to sites like amazon or ask you to provide credit card information to complete a purchase. Once the cybercriminal gets you to enter your information from the link they provided they will quickly scrape as much identity and financial data as they can. This new credit card and account data is then sold on the dark web.

To avoid becoming a victim of a “Phishing Email” DO NOT click on the link provided in the email. Instead open a new web browser and manually go to the retailers website and purchase from there. This is the best way to ensure you are dealing with the actual retailer and not a cyber-criminal.

What I shared above was not intended to damper your Holliday shopping plans. The goal is to provide you information on how you can be better prepared to make purchases this Holliday Season. Good Luck and Happy Shopping!

29 Year Old Man Killed In Poinciana Crash Between ATV & Cars

Poinciana

Staff Reporter

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November 24, 2019

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29 Year Old Man Killed In Poinciana Crash Between ATV & Cars

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

The PCSO Traffic Unit investigated an ATV crash with a fatality on Friday evening, November 22nd. Preliminary information is as follows:

Around 9:40 p.m. deputies responded to a crash on Lake Marion Creek Drive North of Pacific Road in Poinciana, involving two cars and an ATV.

According to the investigation so far, it appears a 2019 red Yamaha Raptor ATV being driven by 29-year-old Carlos Santiago of Orlando was southbound on the grass shoulder of Lake Marion Creek Drive when for unknown reasons it turned left and went into the path of a southbound Honda Accord being driven by 21-year-old Carlos Peralta of Kissimmee. The crash propelled Santiago onto the roadway, where he was struck by a southbound Hyundai Elantra being driven by 36-year-old Justin Edwards of Kissimmee. He was airlifted to Osceola Regional Health Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. The two drivers of the cars were not injured.

Both drivers of the cars stopped to render aid, along with an independent witness. Santiago was wearing dark clothing, and was not wearing any type of helmet or safety gear. There are no street lights in the area. There were no signs of impairment for any of the drivers. The roadway in the area was closed for approximately 4.5 hours

PCSO Investigating Death of Gainesville Man Fatally Shot While Forcing Way into Lakeland Home

Lakeland

Staff Reporter

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November 23, 2019

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PCSO Investigating Death of Gainesville Man Fatally Shot While Forcing Way into Lakeland Home

Around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2019, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from a Lakeland man who reported he had just shot his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Brian Ingram, because Ingram was “fighting his way into” the victim’s home.

The incident began earlier in the day when Ingram and his mother, Patricia, drove from Gainesville to Lakeland to retrieve Ingram’s 2-year-old son, per a custody agreement between Ingram and his ex-girlfriend (the little boy’s mother). The toddler was at his mother’s boyfriend’s home on Ewell Road, while the mother ran to the store. Patricia knocked on the door around noon and asked for the little boy, at which time the victim invited her to wait until the boy’s mother returned from the store so she could say goodbye before he left for the weekend.

Ingram then called 911 and told the call taker that the victim was refusing to let him have his 2-year-old son, and the call taker told Ingram to wait on-scene for deputies to arrive and assist.

In lieu of waiting on law enforcement, Ingram, enraged, ran to the front door and aggressively and repeatedly rang the doorbell and banged on the door, covering the peep hole with his hand. When the victim cracked the door open, Ingram forced his foot into the doorway and then shoved the door against the victim, striking him in the head. The victim, who was armed with a handgun, warned Ingram to leave or he would be shot. Ingram continued to force his way into the home, and he was shot by the victim.

Ingram ran into the yard where he collapsed, and succumbed to his injuries. The victim called 911 and asked for an ambulance. He remained on-scene and has been fully cooperative with the investigation. A home surveillance video shows the scenario exactly as described. Click here to see the video: https://youtu.be/_LF-j6hvyzM

The victim has abrasions and a contusion consistent with being hit by the door and the door is broken. The 2-year-old boy was in a crib in a back bedroom during the entire incident and was not injured. The boy’s mother (the victim’s girlfriend) arrived on-scene shortly after the incident. She has an injunction for protection against Ingram.

Brian Ingram’s criminal history includes two prior felonies and six prior misdemeanors in Suwanee and Alachua Counties, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, DUI, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and resisting arrest.

The investigation is ongoing.

South Florida State College’s Heartland Racers Wins First Home Game

Staff Reporter

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November 21, 2019

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South Florida State College’s Heartland Racers Wins First Home Game

by James Coulter

During their first home game of the season and their second game since their team started earlier this year, the Heartland Racers won 150 to 104 last Saturday evening.

South Florida State College’s new basketball team may have only started this year, but the teamwork and hard work they have honed since then allowed them to dominate the court Saturday evening in Avon Park during their home game against the Sarasota Manatee.

Chris Hawthorne, the head coach, brings with him 12 years of coaching experience, including travel ball, middle school and high school basketball. He utilized his previous experience over the past few weeks to help work the 18 players of the new team into shape.

While many of the players were not used to the “tempo” and “rhythm” of the game, especially with all of the new rules, not only were they able to prepare for their first two games of the season, but also exceed initial expectations by winning both of them, Coach Hawthorne said.

“It was a good game,” he said. “We played a lot different. We play at a better tempo, a better pace. We played defense from one end to the next [the last game]…[This game] we played more as a team than the first game.”

Ray Hucks, the team’s owner, was approached by the college to help start a new basketball team. Hucks was more than on board for the idea, and felt that a home basketball team would help inspire morale and team spirit within the community.

“I have always been a basketball enthusiast,” Hucks said. “I thought it would be a good idea for the community here as a good way to bring [together] kids and adults and everybody, give them something to do, something constructive outside of just hanging out, something to bring somebody together and get local businesses involved. I thought it was a good idea…and we are excited about the future.”

Since starting the team earlier this year with tryouts in July, and since practicing long after that, the team, both the players and the staff, are still getting used to playing together; nevertheless, the progress they have made since then, as exemplified within the past two games, has proved [to be] quite inspiring.

“I think we are doing pretty good,” Hucks said. “We fell a little short in the first game, and in the second game, we did not have many of the bigger players tonight, and we were still able…to pull a victory.”

The secret to their success thus far has been their ability to come together and practice. Every week they practice, especially before their big games, and each and every time they get a little bit better and better, Hawthorne said.

Sometimes coming together can prove difficult. As skilled and talented as each of the players are, not all of them can be on the court at the same time. Those who are able to play give nothing short of their best, and they expect to continue doing better than their best in future games, Hawthorne said.

“I don’t look for the remainder of the season,” he said. “I look for each practice and each game. So this week, we had a practice on Thursday where we get better; and then the next game, we want to do the same thing that we did tonight. And then, the main goal, at the end of the season, is [making] sure we are in the playoffs. Right now, we need to get to the next game, the next practice.”

Former Marine Opens Law Office In Lake Wales

Lake Wales

Staff Reporter

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November 21, 2019

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Former Marine Opens Law Office In Lake Wales

by James Coulter

She was a Marine who served her country, she’s a mother who serves her family, and now she’s the owner of a law office who will serve her local community.

Amilee M. Stuckey, P.A, recently opened the doors to her new law office in Lake Wales with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Lake Wales Chamber of Commerce last Friday.

Located in downtown Lake Wales her office will offer clients assistance with their legal needs, be it with estates and trusts, criminal defense, family law, or other common practice areas.

“You should never have problems communicating with your attorney so we offer an old-fashioned, informal, family-friendly atmosphere,” her website states.

While most other offices specialize these days, her office offers assistance in general practice; and if her client’s case requires a specialist, she can easily offer recommendations for the right person for the job.

“I can handle any matter that you might have, and if it is something that I feel a specialist can handle better, than I can refer you to a friend that I have in that area,” she said.

Amilee Stuckey has years of previous experience working through private practice at other law firms, including Victor Smith Law Group in Winter Haven. She had also served as the Circuit Chief at the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel for several years.

Prior to serving her fellow Americans through the legal system, she was serving them through her service in the military. In 1987, she joined the Marines, where she utilized her truck driving experience to operate many major vehicles.

Though she was never deployed overseas, she did serve within Desert Storm. Following her seven years of service, she left the military and has since become a member of the local Marine Corps League and the American Legion Service Organizations.

Protecting the freedom of her fellow Americans through the military provided her with the character traits needed to better protect the freedom of her fellow Americans through the criminal justice system as an attorney, she said.

“The Marine Corps had certain leadership skills and principles and traits that they instill into us, and a lot of us have that before we go in, but they emphasize leadership traits and principles like discipline, tact, justice, and judgement, all things a lawyer needs to do what they need to do,” she explained.

As a Native Floridian and someone who has lived within Lake Wales for the past ten years, Stuckey loves her local community and looks forward to serving it by offering her legal services to those who need it.

Many local residents have already expressed their admiration for her service, both through law and the military. Many consider her emblematic of a patriotic American, and thus a prime candidate to help others meet their legal needs.

“It’s outstanding to see an educated, self-motivated Marine fight the good fight,” one Facebook reviewer wrote. “If there is anyone I would want defending me is my sis Amilee M.S. Kalapp. Semper Fi.”

The Law Offices of A.M. Stuckey, P.A. is located at 343 W. Central Ave., Suite 101, Lake Wales. PO Box 1613, Lake Wales For more information, call 863-604-0391, or visit https://amstuckeylaw.com.

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