We have confirmed reports that an attempted bank robbery happened earlier this afternoon at SunTrust in North Lakeland. We have no additional information at this time and will bring you more as it becomes available.
Robbery Just Occured at Wells Fargo Bank Davenport
UPDATE:
PCSO Release:
This afternoon, Friday, January 25, 2019, around 4:00 p.m., the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and several other law enforcement agencies took a bank robbery suspect into custody after a pursuit that began in Davenport when he fled, and ended in Lakeland, westbound on the Polk Parkway, near the westbound ramp to I-4.
Nobody was injured.
The suspect is being turned over to the U.S. Marshals Services and the FBI. He is not going to be booked into the Polk County Jail.
Original Release:
We have reports that a robbery just occurred at the Wells Fargo bank located at 305 Davenport Blvd. No weapons displayed. No injuries. Suspect in custody after apparent chase.
We will bring you more information as it becomes available.
Emergency Cross Drain Repairs Close Lake Buffum Road West
Emergency Cross Drain Repairs Close Lake Buffum Road West
Bartow, Fla. (January 25, 2019) —Lake Buffum Road West just north of the intersection with Mills Road and Minor Road in unincorporated Fort Meade has closed for emergency repairs needed to correct a pipe failure threatening to undermine the road. Polk County Roads & Drainage Division closed the road this morning and are detouring through-traffic at Lake Buffum Road North and Lake Buffum Road South.
It appears contracted repairs performed last summer did not fully fill voids when stormwater leaks caused the raveling of bearing soils. Current voids will be filled with cement slurry and Lake Buffum Road West will reopen when material hardens enough to safely support traffic. Timing of repairs is pending the scheduling of a specialty contractor. Lake Buffum Road West could be closed for several days. Due to the rural location, the detour route will be lengthy and motorists are advised to add more time to trips in this area.
For more information, contact Bill Skelton with the Polk County Roads & Drainage Division at (863) 535-2230.
33-Year-Old Caught Stealing A Purse from Occupied Home in Winter Haven
File this under, “You Really Thought You Could Get Away With This?”
WHPD Press Release:
On January 23, 2019, at approximately 1:56 p.m., a call was received regarding a burglary that had just occurred while the homeowner and her adult son were at home.
Seventy-four year-old victim and her 31 year-old son were asleep inside of their home, located on 9th Lane NE in Winter Haven. He woke up and started going towards the kitchen when he heard the front door open and close.
He went to the door and went outside to find 33 year-old Tacasha Burnham (DOB 10-6-85, 2051 9th Lane, NE, Winter Haven) walking away from the home with a large black purse in her hand. He immediately went to his mother’s bedroom and woke her up asking where her purse was. She indicated that it should be on the chair in her bedroom, but the purse was not there.
He immediately ran back outside to see Burnham getting into a burgundy Pontiac four-door vehicle and drive off. The purse contained credit cards, personal information and a small amount of cash.
A short time later, another call was received from someone who just witnessed a female put a black purse inside of a trash can across the street from the caller’s home on 2nd St NW in Winter Haven. The caller further advised that the person who placed the purse inside of the garbage can was driving a burgundy Pontiac four-door vehicle. Officers arrived and recovered the purse from the garbage can with everything belonging to the victim except for the cash.
The son was able to positively identify Burnham to officers as the person inside of his house because he has known her for a number of years. When officers went to Burnham’s home, they found her in the driver’s seat of a burgundy Pontiac G6 wearing the same color clothing described by the victim and the witness who saw her place the purse in the garbage can.
Based on the positive identification from victim, Burnham was taken into custody and charged with Unarmed Burglary of an Occupied Dwelling – 810.02(3)(A) F-2.
Alafia River Rendezvous Brings History To Life For 48th Year
Alafia River Rendezvous Brings History To Life For 48th Year
by James Coulter
Nestled near the Alafia River within the Florida wilderness stands an encampment of several white canvased tents.
Within the heart of this camp, several people dressed in rustic country clothing peruse a makeshift marketplace where traders showcase their wares of furs, silverware, pottery, and other merchandise, all displayed upon rugs and tables.
One bonnet-wearing mother watches over her toddler son as he reaches for a wooden flute and begins to blow cacophonic tunes from it. Obviously, he has spotted a new plaything that she will be obliged to buy for him and deal with throughout the day.
Around the corner, a baker pushes a wooden tray of freshly-kneaded dough within a clay oven to cook into hot and piping loaves of bread. Across from his tent, a blacksmith tinkers away at a new fish hook, his hammer striking the hot iron against his anvil.
This may all sound like a scene from Florida more than 200 years ago, but in reality, this all happened merely days ago during the 48th Annual Alafia River Rendezvous in Fort Meade.
For nearly half a century, the Alafia River Rendezvous has been drawing in hundreds of historical demonstrators from across the country and even the world to the Central Florida wilderness to help re-enact daily life within the state pre-1840.
These re-enactors includes blacksmiths, cooks, marksman, archers, and artisans who specialize in creating pottery, wooden items, silverware, jewelry, and other historical items.
Justin Cherry, a baker for the Half Crown Bakehouse, traveled from Charleston, S.C. to attend the rendezvous in Florida for the very first time. He and his team specialize in baking “period-accurate” bread and baked goods within ovens made from clay, mud, and straw.
The oven he uses, which was modeled after a similar oven from the 1730s, can fit 18 to 20 loafs at a time. Each loaf is prepared with simple ingredients that would have been used during that time period, thus ensuring that they are historically authentic.
He has been baking for the past six years, and cooking professionally for 12 years. Aside from making this bread, he enjoys the process of researching the grains and finding out what kind of breads would have been made more than two centuries ago.
“When you start to make them, you’re really getting back to real bread,” he said. “No sugar. No starches. Just good old fashioned salt, water, yeast, and flour.”
Glenn McLean, a broom maker from Wonky Wood Works in Lake Wales, has been attending the rendezvous for the past 20 years, creating old-fashioned wooden brooms using tassels from the serpent plant, which is related to the sugar cane.
Brooms were important during the pioneer days, as everything was made from wood and thus produced plenty of dust upon the floor, he said. Pioneers would also sweep their front yards as a way to keep it tidy and keep away any potential pests.
These brooms were also sacred for Wiccans, who used them to “sweep away” evil spirits—a practice that led to the superstition that witches fly on brooms. As far as broom flying is concerned, McLean’s brooms have especially proven popular with little children thanks to the popularity of the Harry Potter series.
“Prior to Harry Potter, they could care less about a broom,” he said. “They still don’t know they’re for keeping your room clean.”
McLean has been attending the event for nearly two decades, with this year being his last for broom making. He wants to experiment with other crafts, as well as enjoy the event without being tied down to making brooms all day, he said.
“It is kind of hard on the hands, and after 20 years of it, it was a hobby that got out of hand, and instead of rendezvousing and having fun, I am in here making brooms,” he said. “I like making brooms, but you kind of miss out on some of the other things happening here.”
The Alafia River Rendezvous has been hosted since 1971, and had since been taken over by the Florida Frontiersman, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the skills and crafts of pre-1840 Florida.
More than 1,000 people from across the country and even the world arrive to this event annually to spend an entire week utilizing their skills to re-enact history, with as many as 1,400 people attending, explained Ron Clark, Florida Frontiersman President.
Clark has been with the event since his organization took it over in 1985. He appreciates being able to mingle with fellow historical re-enactors and demonstrators and sharing their passionate love for history.
“What I like is meeting people, seeing the things that you don’t normally see in Florida that you would have to go to other reenactments to find trade goods, and overall being together,” he said.
The Alafia River Rendezvous is open to the public between Jan. 25 and 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will be located at 1000 Old Fort Meade Rd, Bartow, FL 33830.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors (age 60+) and children (ages 4-15), and free for children ages 3 and under.
For more information, visit their website at: http://www.floridafrontiersmen.org/
Kissimmee Pastor Tells His “Story Of Survival” About Surviving An Active Shooter
Kissimmee Pastor Tells His “Story Of Survival” About Surviving An Active Shooter
by James Coulter
When Pastor Terry Howell arrived at his church one morning nearly four years ago, he never expected to look down the barrel of a .45 caliber semi-automatic, let alone survive.
Yet not only did he evade being shot at three times, surviving with only burn marks on his face and neck, but he also subdued his attacker by chasing him out of the church office and shooting back at him twice.
His act of self-defense not only saved his life and that of his family, but also that of nearly a dozen students in his church’s preschool downstairs. As a man of God, he knew the grace of God when he sees it, he said.
“God really protected us that day, he really watched over us, and I cannot tell the story without giving the glory for the things He has done for us,” he said.
Pastor Howell shared his “Story of Survival” with a small audience at Grace Baptist Church in Winter Haven during a presentation by In-Gauge of Polk County on Tuesday evening.
On Dec. 14, 2014, Pastor Howell arrived at his office on the second floor of his church, Living Water in Kissimmee, to fire their maintenance worker, Benjamin Parangan Jr.
Prior to that morning, his wife had advised him to bring his gun with him, as he had a concealed carry license. She was feeling uneasy about the situation and fearing that the worst would happen, he explained.
Upon being informed that he was being fired, the disgruntled maintenance worker yelled a few curses before pulling out a gun, aiming it nearly a foot from the pastor’s face, and shooting, Pastor Howell said.
“When he shot, I was thinking I was shot, but…it did not hurt,” he said. “I looked down, and nothing was there…I felt invisible, because it felt like it shot straight through me.”
Pastor Howell then drew his own gun and shot back at his attacker. He chased him out of the office and shot at him once again. His attacker fell bleeding onto the first floor where the preschool was located, he said.
“As he was running away, I was considering pulling my gun, I feared I was going to die,” he said. “But I knew I had to do it. I had to be the protector. Somebody needs to stop this guy even if it means I’m going to die.”
The attacker inevitably escaped the church, as did the pastor’s children to call the police from safety. Pastor Howell remained behind to meet the police when they arrived.
Despite the gun having been aimed close to his face, the shot missed him. In fact, Pastor Howell even thought the gun was fake, as said it sounded like a “toy gun” going off while his own smaller gun sounded like a cannon, he explained.
The reality and gravity of the situation was revealed to him by the sheriff, as he pointed out that Pastor Howell’s face was covered in gunshot powder and burns.
He later learned that the disgruntled maintenance worker had already expressed his intentions several times, yet nobody had taken his threats seriously, Pastor Howell said.
“He told people that if I ever fired him, he would shoot me in the face with a gun,” he said. “Nobody told me because they thought he was joking.”
His attacker had initially been indicted on a charge of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. That charge was later lowered to a lesser charge, at the request of Pastor Howell, and was resolved two years later when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
When Pastor Howell initially confronted his attacker, he did not feel anything about the attack. He later learned that it was precisely because of his forgiveness towards him that let him feel nothing about it.
“The reason [I] don’t feel nothing is because [I had] already forgiven him,” Pastor Howell said. “If you did feel something, you didn’t forgive him. The Lord says we have to walk in forgiveness, and that is what I did.”
Following the attack, many members of his church’s congregation left, as they felt uncomfortable about him carrying a gun.
During one meeting with church parents, he was asked by one mother of a four-year-old girl why he opted to use a gun rather than “let God take care of it.” He replied that God did take care of it by allowing him to take action.
“I told her God did his part, and I did my part,” he said. “Because I am the one that he put in there as a shepherd, as the protector of the flock.”
Pastor Howell was invited to share his story during a monthly meeting of In-Gauge of Polk County, a NRA-affiliated, non-profit organization that offers firearms safety and self-defense training in Winter Haven.
Robert Dummett, an instructor at In-Gauge, was impressed by the turnout that evening. He estimated that nearly 90 percent of them were from a faith-based organization or church ministry.
His own organization is offering training for church staff to help provide safety during similar shooting situations. Overall, he felt that Pastor Howell’s presentation that evening helped emphasized the need for preparedness.
“Be prepared for the unthinkable, be prepared for the unimaginable incident, because it could occur at any moment unexpectedly,” he said.
“Cracker” Pete Smith, head of the WH 912 Project, a local conservative political group, was one of the attendees that evening. He was most impressed by the excellent presentation and how it revealed that similar situations can occur at any moment.
“He gave an insight of what happened, and it gives us, myself, and opportunity to learn what to do if it would happen to me,” he said.
Five People Shot and Killed Inside Sebring bank
JOINT PRESS RELEASE ON SUNTRUST SHOOTING
Five people shot and killed inside Sebring bank
SEBRING — Five people were shot and killed inside a Sebring bank today.
This afternoon at 12:37 p.m., officers with the Sebring Police Department and the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office responded to the SunTrust Bank at 1901 US 27 South in Sebring after a man called dispatch and said “I have shot five people.”
At 12:40 p.m., two members of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office TAC Unit arrived on scene and, along with other deputies and officers from the Sebring Police Department, established a perimeter. The HCSO SWAT team entered the building, where the suspect had barricaded himself inside, to attempt to check on victims. Crisis Negotiation Team members, along with dispatchers and SWAT members, persuaded the suspect to surrender.
The names and ages of the victims have not been released. They were the only five people in the bank at the time.
The suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Zephan Xaver from Sebring. The investigation into his motives his still ongoing.
“This has been a tragic day for our community. We’ve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime,” Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said. “This is something that you hope will never happen anywhere, much less in your hometown. We will continue to investigate and work to see that the victims and their families are taken care of and that they receive the justice they deserve.”
“I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county,” Sheriff Paul Blackman said. “I pray for the victims, their families and our community. This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same.
“I have been in law enforcement all of my adult life and this horrific incident shocks and angers me more than anything I have encountered in my career. While we still don’t know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.”
Semi Accident Blocking Commonwealth Ave In Polk City
Polk City, Florida – The Polk County Fire Rescue and Polk County Sheriff’s Department is currently on scene of an accident near 1060 Commonwealth Ave. in Polk City. The accident occurred around 6:45pm. A semi-tractor trailer and a car were involved. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office one person in the car was entrapped and had to be rescued by Polk County Fire Rescue. One person was medically evacuated from the scene by helicopter.
As of the time of this posting the Polk County Sheriff’s Office advises that both northbound and southbound Commonwealth Ave. is blocked. We will update as more information is made available.
UPDATE from Sebring Police Department on Shooting at SunTrust Bank
UPDATE from Sebring Police Department:
All 5 victims in todays shooting at SunTrust Bank were confirmed dead and the suspect is 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, a sebring resident and has been taken into custody.
The investigation is ongoing and victim names will not be released at this time.
We will bring you more as it becomes available.
Prior Release:
At approximately 12:36 p.m. today, the Sebring Police Department responded to the SunTrust Bank at 1901 US 27 South in Sebring.
A subject contacted dispatch and reported that he had fired shots inside the bank. SPD officers and deputies from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and established a perimeter.
After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations. The suspect eventually surrendered to the HCSO SWAT team.
The situation was confined to the bank.
Two Winter Haven Boxers Win Scholarships At National Championship
Two Winter Haven Boxers Win Scholarships At National Championship
by James Coulter
One struggled with his bullies. Another struggled with his weight. Both overcame their struggles and became scholarship-winning boxers in the process.
Two boxers from the Winter Haven Boxing Club won scholarships at the national championship of the 2018 Sugar Bert Boxing Tournament in Kissimmee, FL.
Zee Zamora, 12, and Brandon Moore, 24, were two of the 22 participants who were selected to receive sponsorship dollars by competing and winning within the tournament.
“The participants chosen attended the tournaments and successfully competed against another ranked boxer in the National Championship!” read the announcement on the Sugar Bert Boxing Promotions Facebook page.
Both local boxers received $10,000 that was split between them, with them each receiving $5,000 to go towards their academic endeavors.
Both boxers owe their success to their training underneath their coaches at the Winter Haven Boxing Club, Coach Marco Fazzini, Joel Lopez, and Zee Zamora, who is also the father of the boxer of the same name.
“They are consistently training and dedicated to the sport,” Fazzini said. “Being here every day, they have good parents that push them, and it is a mixture of time and dedication.”
Fazzini always strives to push his boxers towards achieving their full potential. Being able to see these two not only advance towards national championships, but also walk away with scholarships proves that they have more than exceeded their potentials.
“I think it is great that they give these opportunities to the kids,” he said. “It is a big help, it helps us with the traveling. It is a good thing.”
Zamora has been training his son alongside Fazzini, and it has been that level of dedication towards his own son’s training as a parent that has allowed his son to achieve such an amazing feat. No parent could be prouder, he said.
“It feels great,” he said. “It is something that I am pushing him forward to instead of hoping for. It’s something that he’s interested in, and while he has that interest in it, I might as well push it forward towards his potential so that we could get college potentially paid for in the future. What parent would not want that?”
Zee Zamora: A Victor Over Bullying
Five years ago, Zee was a timid young lad being picked on by bullies at his school. His father decided to teach him self-defense by enrolling him into boxing lessons at the local gym.
Five years later, Zee, now 12, gained the muscles and confidence to stand against his bullies. Many of them still want to fight him since they realize he knows how to fight, yet the discipline he has learned through his training allows him to restrain himself and hold back during any potential fights.
“If somebody is bullying you, and they want to fight you, you have to turn your back,” he said. “If they try fighting you, you can’t put your hands back on them. Because they are kids, they don’t want to fight. I would make them miss and not even touch them. I make them look stupid.”
Since he started his training, Zee has gained a lot of power with his hands, so much so that he’s even able to drop kids his own size, he said.
Such improvement over the past five years has allowed him to walk away from many tournaments with medals and belts, his scholarship from Sugar Bert being his latest and greatest victory.
Of course, he would not be where he is today were it not for the motivation from both his coach and his father. Both push him to do his best, and that has allowed him to achieve the best.
The biggest push he receives at home is through his dietary regiment. Though his often misses pizza and fast food, his diet rich in protein and carbs gives him the energy he needs to win any fight.
“They push me hard,” he said. “I’ve never been on a diet before, but now I’m on a diet, and I am starting to see improvements in my body. My dad, he pushes me, and I like that.”
Brandon Moore: From Flab To Fit
Since graduating from college where he played basketball on a scholarship, Moore experienced a rough patch in his life. He gained 40 pounds since then, placing him around 300 pounds.
Wanting to get active and lose weight, he decided to research local gyms. He discovered Winter Haven Boxing Club, and though it was a long drive from his Lakeland home, he decided to give it a try anyway.
He started training under his coach in February of last year. Since then, he saw leaps and bounds in his own fitness. He lost more than 70 pounds, and now weighs around 200.
His coaches at the gym have pushed him toward achieving his full potential. At first, he was skeptical of his regiment, but the more he trained, the more confidence he gained.
So confident he became that he not only sparred against a number 7 ranked athlete at the tournament, but won through a unanimous decision, with his win allowing him to receive a scholarship.
“It has been like a crazy world where Marco has been taken to me and working with me,” he said. “I wanted to give him the credit where I have gotten to, because I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. As a coach, he is really the best.”
His latest victory from the tournament he credits not only to his own coach, but to his own dedication. Every day he visits the gym, sometimes two to three times per day, he said.
“I am just dedicated to the gym,” he said. “I try not to miss days. I go twice even three times a day if I can. And I have dedicated myself to it. I decided that I really want to do it. I am always thinking about the gym, thinking about working on it and boxing in general.”
His biggest motivation comes from his coaches, of course. The overall atmosphere, especially with young children training, provides even more so for him.
“It is the atmosphere that keeps you coming back,” he said. “You have to be willing to dedicate yourself to hard work. There are kids in there who are motivated. You see little kids in there working as hard as you, there is no way [you can’t be motivated]. It is a culture, for sure.”
