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.
Last night Haines City units from Stations 1 and 2 responded to a reported vehicle fire at a used car lot off of US HWY 17/92 N near SMITH RD. Upon arrival there were multiple vehicles actively engulfed in flames. Firefighters were able to keep the fire limited to those vehicles and had the blaze completely under control within 2 hours.
The source of the fire is still under investigation and there were no injuries.
LAKELAND, FL (December 22, 2023) On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, Janeria McCutchen, employed as a teacher at Sleepy Hill Middle School, was arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on an arrest warrant. The charges stemmed from an incident that took place in the 1500 block of Unitah Avenue in June of this year.
On June 11, 2023, Lakeland Police Department officers who responded to the incident location were originally called for a disturbance. According to the victim, witness and corroborating evidence, McCutchen arrived at the victim’s residence, initiated the disturbance and began aggressively knocking on the door. The victim had been friends with McCutchen, so he answered the door to ask her to leave. McCutchen forced the door open, pushed the victim out of the way, and entered the residence. McCutchen began searching the residence for property she believed was hers. The victim began recording her with his cell phone. McCutchen struck the phone with her hand and took $180.00 in cash from the residence. She exited and broke a window at the home before leaving the scene in a vehicle. The victim received a small laceration on his right leg from the forced entry.
McCutchen was not present when officers arrived and could not be located that night. Therefore, Lakeland officers completed a complaint affidavit charging her with Burglary with Battery (F1), Grand Theft from a Dwelling (F3), and Criminal Mischief (M1). A warrant was later issued for these charges.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigates animal neglect hoarder case in Frostproof; 142 cats, 3 dogs, and 164 fowl (ducks, chickens, geese, and a peacock) seized from the property.
On Thursday morning, December 21, 2023, a Polk County deputy sheriff responded to a home on Fazzini Drive, Frostproof to complete a welfare check on a 75 year old woman who was reported to be living there, and that there was a possible “hoarder situation” involving cats at the house. Upon his arrival, the deputy was met by 48-year-old Lisa Lacharite in the front yard of the residence.
The deputy informed Ms. Lacharite that he was there to conduct a wellbeing check on the older woman (Ms. Lacharite’s mother). She told the deputy that she was her mother’s caregiver and that her mother had health issues. Ms. Lacharite asked the deputy to wait outside while she went inside to get her. While waiting, the deputy noticed strong ammonia smells outside the residence. After approximately 15 minutes, Ms. Lacharite exited the residence and informed the deputy he could now enter the home and check on her mother’s wellbeing.
Lisa Lacharite
As the deputy entered the enclosed front porch, he observed numerous wire cages that contained approximately 75 chickens, peacocks, and ducks. Some of these animals appeared to be malnourished and sick. When Deputy Mills entered the residence, he noticed an overwhelming ammonia odor and observed approximately 50 cats running around the residence, climbing on furniture, and sitting on the kitchen counters. He also observed dried feces on the floors and walls. Ms. Lacharite told the deputy she rescues cats and cares for numerous chickens and ducks.
When the deputy made contact with the mother, she advised she was okay but the deputy noticed she had glassy eyes and was not easily able to move. After observing the living conditions inside the home, more PCSO staff responded to investigate. Members of Polk County Animal Control, the Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit, Agricultural Crimes, Crime Scene, and Southeast District patrol responded.
Polk County Fire Rescue responded with an ammonia reader. PCFR collected an air samples inside the residence; the samples read between 70 and 100 parts per million ammonia. PCFR personnel advised anything over 50 parts per million was hazardous to health. Ms. Lacharite’s mother was removed from the residence to prevent further exposure to the air.
Investigating deputies found the following:
multiple chickens, ducks, geese, and a peacock in wire kennels that were stacked 2 and 3 rows high on the front porch of the residence
dirty water in containers in the pens
all of the pens contained large amounts of feces on the bottom of the wire cages
it appeared the cages had not been cleaned for an extended period of time
inadequate clean exchange of air on the porch; inside the home there was a strong odor of ammonia, which immediately caused burning and irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat
cats running loose in the kitchen, living room, and utility room area
cats were observed lying on the kitchen counters, stove, and inside cabinets
a litter box filled with urine and feces inside the pantry in the kitchen
3 cats in kennels, two of which were nursing kittens
two dogs inside kennels in the living room
feces on the floor throughout the residence, and feces piled up in every litter box
it appeared the litter boxes had not been changed for an extended amount of time
there were approximately 10 litter boxes lined down the hallway, all of which were filled with urine and feces
approximately 50 more cats were located inside the back room of the residence
inside the middle bedroom, deputies found another dog and more chickens and ducks in cages and bins
four cats were observed in another smaller bedroom, which also contained a litter box filled with urine and feces
additional cat litter boxes were observed inside the back room, all of which were filled with urine and feces.
Animal Feces
Deputies and staff had to wear respirator masks to investigate the conditions of the home. Five cats were found to have severe eye/nasal discharge and respiratory issues, which are common signs of cats that have been exposed to high levels of ammonia for an extended period of time. The investigation determined there was a lack of clean exchange of air that has caused severe and repeated infliction of pain and suffering in at least five cats inside the residence.
During an interview, Ms. Lacharite admitted she knew the conditions inside the residence were not good for them or the animals. She stated that she has been overwhelmed by the amount of animals she has, and that it has become too much for her to handle. She agreed to surrender all of the animals, except for her three dogs and her mother’s three cats.
In total, there were 142 cats, 3 dogs, and 164 fowl (ducks, chickens, geese, and a peacock) seized from the property (all from within the residence) pending a forfeiture hearing.
Based on the investigation, detectives determined the owner Lisa Lacharite has neglected to provide the legal obligations to care and support her animals. Lacharite confined 304 of her animals to the residence, and smaller rooms inside the residence without an exchange of air. The ammonia levels inside the residence can be lethal to humans and animals over a period of time. These environmental factors caused at least 5 of her cats to repeatedly suffer eye/nasal discharge and significant respiratory problems in the form of coughing and wheezing. Lacharite was arrested for felony animal cruelty (5 counts), animal neglect (304 counts), and one count of elder neglect. Lacharite was transported to the Polk County Jail without incident,
All of the animals have been removed from the residence were transported to Animal Control. The animals will be evaluated by veterinarians. Polk County Animal Control will work with the general public, the SPCA, and animal rescue organizations to find forever homes for animals. Polk County Animal Control is asking the public who are interested in adopting the animals (cats, dogs) to stop by Animal Control today (Friday) or tomorrow (Saturday) at 7115 De Castro Rd, Winter Haven, FL. People can also email [email protected] and provide your name, address, email, and telephone number and how you would like to help.
