A reported domestic violence event has landed a female Winter Haven Police Officer in jail after an altercation in an apartment parking lot On July 4, 2021 at approximately 11:20 a.m., a 9-1-1 call was received regarding a dispute that was occurring in the parking lot of Vista Del Lago in Winter Haven. The caller stated there was a disturbance involving a male and a female with the female having a firearm in her hand. As officers arrived, the victim had left the area, but found the female awaiting in the parking lot. According to the witnesses, Manisia Robinson was outside in the parking area arguing with a male when an altercation occurred. Witnesses state they saw Robinson with a firearm pointing at the victim. Officers were able to contact the victim and when interviewed, the victim stated there was no firearm involved. Manisia Robinson has worked as a Winter Haven Police Officer since November 2020. Robinson is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. When the investigation is concluded, additional information will be released.
“We take any and all accusations involving our officers seriously,” said Winter Haven Police Chief David Brannan. “With the differing statements at the scene, we will ensure everything is covered to solidify this case no matter what the outcome.”
On Sunday, July 4, 2021, shortly after midnight, uniform patrol officers responded to the Mobil gas station located at 1615 West Memorial Boulevard in reference to a shooting. On scene, officers located a34-year-old male victim with multiple gunshot wounds. Officers immediately began securing the scene and rendering aid until emergency medical responders from Lakeland Fire Department and Polk County Fire Rescue arrived. The victim was transported to Lakeland Regional Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries a short time later. Prior to the shooting, the victim was pumping gas when two armed suspects began to approach him. The suspects had just exited a vehicle that was parked on an adjacent street. As the victim saw the two suspects approaching, he attempted to flee on foot when he was shot. The two suspects retreated to their vehicle and fled the area. Their identity is not known at this time. Detectives are continuing to follow up on leads as this is still very early in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Russ Hurley at 863.834.8973 or [email protected]. Or if you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Heartland Crime Stoppers Florida:
Or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet.
Tipsters will always remain anonymous when sending a tip through Crime Stoppers and could be eligible for a cash reward if the information leads to an arrest. The name of victim is being withheld in accordance with Marsy’s Law.
A crash involving two vehicles Friday afternoon, July 2, 2021 near Polk City resulted in the death of a Valrico man, and injuries to his passenger and the other driver.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and members of Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the crash on Commonwealth Avenue (SR 33) at Evergreen Boulevard, after it was reported via a 911 call at about 3:18 PM. The scene was about a mile-and-a-half north of Polk City.
Upon the arrival of first responders, 59-year old Angel Cano was found deceased. His passenger, 49-year old Geisha Machado Carranza of Valrico, suffered a broken leg and internal injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was listed in fair condition.
The other driver, 39-year old Nicolas Roldan of Miami Beach, suffered bruises and abrasions, and was also taken to the hospital for treatment.
According to the preliminary report based on evidence and witness statements, Mr. Roldan was driving a white 2021 Toyota Highlander south on Commonwealth Avenue while Mr. Cano was driving northbound in a white 2021 Ford Ecosport.
For unknown reasons at this time, Mr. Roldan’s Highlander crossed the center line and struck Mr. Cano’s Ecosport head-on. The impact caused significant front-end damage to both vehicles.
All three people involved were wearing seat belts.
The Florida Department of Transportation provided assistance with traffic control, as Commonwealth Avenue remained closed for about three-and-a-half hours.
There are no charges at this time, but the investigation remains under investigation by the PCSO’s Traffic Homicide Unit.
Sandbag Locations: Preparations are underway in anticipation for higher-than-normal winds and rain Hurricane Elsa could send our way. The Public Works Department will set up a self-serve 24-hour sandbag station starting Sunday, July 4 at W.G. Roe Park, 2269 7th St. SW, on the southern side to lessen boat launching impacts. There is a limit of 10 bags per household. Residents are encouraged to bring their own shovels to fill the bags.
The Polk County
Sheriff’s Office arrested 16-year-old Victor Antonetty and 17-year-old
Geovanni Luis Vizcaino, both from Orlando, after they stole three vehicles
and burglarized multiple other vehicles in the Loma Del Sol subdivision in
unincorporated Davenport on July 1, 2021. All but one of the vehicles were
unlocked.
At around 5:00 a.m.
Thursday morning, a deputy responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle in
the area. When he arrived, he observed two vehicles (that turned out to be
stolen) speeding from the subdivision – a white Mercedes Benz, driven by
Antonetty and a black BMW, driven by Vizacaino. The deputy attempted to stop
the vehicles, but the two suspects fled the area.
Antonetty ran over a
concrete curb as he was exiting the subdivision, damaging the stolen Mercedes
Benz. He got out of the vehicle and called for a Lyft, but deputies quickly
apprehended him before the ride share driver picked him up.
Vizcaino crashed the
stolen BMW near the intersection of Ronald Regan Parkway and Champions Gate
Boulevard and then fled the area. Detectives were able to locate and contact
Vizcaino’s mother, who helped find her son. She then picked him up and took him
to a local hospital following the crash. Once at the hospital, she contacted
detectives. Vizcaino suffered no injuries from the crash, and deputies took him
into custody at the hospital. His mother is cooperating with this
investigation.
Detectives learned
Antonetty and Vizcaino drove to Loma Del Sol in a white van, which was reported
stolen in Orange County, to break into as many vehicles as they could in order
to steal money. When deputies searched the stolen white van, they found
multiple credit cards and identifications related to other burglary incidents
which occurred in Orange County. PCSO detectives are working with other law
enforcement agencies to follow up on the found IDs and credit cards.
In total, Antonetty
and Vizcaino stole 3 cars and burglarized or attempted to burglarize 13
vehicles.
“This is yet again
another example of juveniles who are committing crimes and need to be held
accountable for their actions. Our Juvenile Justice System must stand up for
victims by getting a handle on juveniles committing crime in central Florida.
We cannot allow out-of-control juveniles to continue to erode our quality of
life.” – Grady Judd,
Sheriff
Antonetty was arrested and charged with:
Attempted Burglary of an Unoccupied Vehicle (8
counts) (F3)
Burglary of an Unoccupied Vehicle (5 counts)
(F3)
Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle (3 counts) (F3)
Conspiracy to Commit Burglary (F3)
Use of a 2-Way Communication Device to Commit
a Felony (F3)
Possession of Burglary Tools (F3)
Fleeing to Elude (F3)
Petit Theft 2nd Offense (M1)
Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor
(M1)
Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property
Damage (M1)
Resisting an Officer without Violence (M1)
No Valid Driver’s License (M2)
He was transported to
the Juvenile Assessment Center. Antonetty’s criminal history includes 2
felonies for Burglary and Grand Theft. He was sentenced to 6 months of
community service on those charges. The sentence concluded in March of this
year.
Vizcaino was arrested and charged with:
Attempted Burglary of an Unoccupied Vehicle (8
counts) (F3)
Burglary of an Unoccupied Vehicle (5 counts)
(F3)
Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle (3 counts) (F3)
Conspiracy to Commit Burglary (F3)
Use of a 2-Way Communication Device to Commit
a Felony (F3)
Possession of Burglary Tools (F3)
Fleeing to Elude (F3)
Petit Theft 2nd Offense (M1)
Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor
(M1)
Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property
Damage (M1)
No Valid Driver’s License (M2)
He was transported to
the Juvenile Assessment Center.
Enjoy A Teddy Bear Picnic at Bartow Public Library on Saturday July 10
by James Coulter
If you go to Bartow on Saturday, you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the library, you’d better go in disguise! For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain. Because that’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.
Yes! You, your young one, and their teddy bear can come on down to the Bartow Public Library on Saturday and enjoy a teddy bear picnic with other children and their teddies this upcoming Saturday.
Attendees and their little ones are encouraged to bring their teddy bears, a picnic lunch, and a blanket or towel to sit upon to enjoy a bear-y good time at the library from 10 AM to noon. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited.
Aside from enjoying a fun time with fellow teddy bear lovers, children and their favorite stuffed friend will be eligible to win prizes awarded to the prettiest, funniest, oldest, most handsome, or most loved bear.
July 10 is the official Teddy Bear Picnic Day. This will be the second event hosted by the Bartow Public Library. The picnic was previously hosted two years ago. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, it was not hosted last year.
“It [the first picnic] met with a great deal of enthusiasm, so we promised to hold it again,” said Miss Melissa, Youth Services Librarian. “We expect the children to have a good time. We expect them to have a good time with their teddy bear.”
To ensure everyone’s health and safety, masks are optional, and social distancing is encouraged. Anyone who is not comfortable sitting in a group are welcome to sit in the back. The entire library is still maintaining maximum cleanliness with the disinfecting of keyboards, tables, doorknobs, and other objects, explained Miss Melissa.
The library will also be hosting a virtual, interactive event via Zoom on Wed., July 7 at 2 PM. The Tampa Bay Bats will be hosting will be presenting a program on Florida bats. Attendees will be able to view the event via Zoom. For more information, contact the reference librarian for assistance at: 863-534-0131
The Teddy Bear Picnic will be hosted on Sat., July 10 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Bartow Public Library, located 2150 S Broadway Ave, Bartow, FL 33830. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. For more information, call 863-534-0131, or visit their website at: https://bartowlibrary.org/
Inagural Great Florida Bigfoot Conference to Be Hosted on Saturday July 10
by James Coulter
Bigfoot has been allegedly spotted more than 10,000 times over the past 50 years. With more than 328 sightings, Florida is the third state with the most sightings, as reported by Satellite Internet.
You probably won’t find Sasquatch himself next Saturday, but you will find plenty of Bigfoot researchers and enthusiasts for the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference. The inaugural event will be hosted at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Sat. July 10 from 9 AM – 5 PM.
Whether you’re a true believer or not, you’ll have to hear to believe some of the tall tales that will be shared by the guest speakers headlining the event. These speakers include well-known Bigfoot experts Liff Barackman and James “Bobo” Fay, and local experts Stacy Brown, Robert Robinson, and David Sidoti.
The overall event will conclude with a roundtable of the various guest speakers, allowing participants to have their questions answered. Attendees can also submit their own stories of Bigfoot encounters with a chance to share them on stage. And throughout the day, they can scour the many exhibitors and vendors set up at the event.
“We are looking forward to a great day,” said Martin Pippin, event organizer. “We have a good mix of traditional bigfoot researchers as well as more skunk ape researchers from our local group. The ones who are more active will talk about things they found more recently, or tell in detail about their more interesting finds over their careers.”
This will be the first Bigfoot conference to be hosted by GatherUp Events. The event group initially started their first Bigfoot event four years ago with the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference in Gatlinburg, TN. They wanted to host an event in Florida, as it’s the third state with the most sightings, Pippin said.
“There was no conference that reached out to the average enthusiast as far as the hardcore Bigfooters, so we started this,” he said. “We wanted it somewhere near the green swamp where a lot of those sightings are held. So we figured Lakeland would be a great spot, being between two cities and two major airports. Easy to get to and close proximity to local sightings.”
Initially, Great Florida Bigfoot Conference was to be hosted in one of the many conference halls at the RP Funding Center. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the event was moved to the Youkey Theater. Nevertheless, the venue still provides plenty of room for their exhibits, vendors, and other event activities.
“We are excited about the initial turnout, and of course, we have two weeks to see if we can completely fill the Youkey Theater,” Pippin said. “The reception has been nice. They [attendees] can expect a great day of anything and everything these speakers have to offers.”
Regardless of whether you believe in creatures with big feet or know for sure that the truth is out there somewhere, the upcoming conference will give attendees something to believe in.
“Suspend your suspicion and skepticism a little bit and come out and listen,” Pippin said. “It is a huge day of friendly people with lively debates. If it is anything like our other events, everyone walks away happy, they tend to enjoy the events tremendously, and they love meeting these guests, especially the big celebrities.”
The Great Florida Bigfoot Conference will be hosted on Sat. July 10 from 9 AM to 5 PM at the RP Funding Center, located at 701 W Lime St, Lakeland, FL 33815. For more information, visit their website at: https://gatherupevents.com/florida-bigfoot-conference/
Does Congress really
want professional police reform?
Grady Judd, Sheriff
Polk County, Florida
Police professionals
support and welcome real police reform. Why is Congress missing a huge
opportunity to change and improve police culture in America? The current
federal police reform bill includes a laundry list of fragmented proposals
designed to create political talking points, not a genuine attempt to fix
problem policing where it exists.
There is a big lie
being told in the police reform debate: “qualified immunity means that bad cops
are immune from civil lawsuits.” That’s flat out nonsense. Just look at the
thousands of lawsuits and millions of dollars a year paid out to civil litigants
over alleged police misconduct.
Qualified immunity
simply means that if a police officer is doing his or her job, following their
police agency’s policies, and following the law, the officer is not civilly
liable in a federal civil rights case for their well-intended actions that were
objectively reasonable.
Do members of Congress
understand that people already have access to state and federal courts to hold
police officers accountable? Adding another opportunity for
federal lawsuits is what I call the “Stuff the Lawyers’ Pockets Act.” Equating
police accountability with more lawsuits is perverse. Blasting the door wide
open for more lawsuits will only bankrupt cities and counties and penalize
taxpayers.
The qualified immunity
fake solution some in Congress are proposing does nothing to change bad
police culture or provide a road map to improve police conduct and community
relations. Add another layer of federal lawsuits and you will find even more
police officers leaving the profession and many others afraid to do their job.
The result is evident: Crime, and specifically violent crime, will
increase more than it has because of these attacks on all police agencies for
the bad conduct of a very few.
The real way to
improve the quality of policing in America is to incentivize police agencies to
become professionally accredited by state or nationally recognized professional
accrediting bodies. I’m not talking about a one-size-fits-all set of mandates
created by a federal agency under the influence of whatever political party is
in power in the White House, and then forced on local and state agencies. I’m
talking about independent accrediting bodies professionally dedicated to police
best practices. These accrediting bodies have established well founded systems
and processes based on data and research designed to deliver professional
community-based policing.
My agency maintains 10
state and national accreditations that include 1,487 best practice standards
that we follow. The standards cover everything from use of force, to police pursuits,
to serving warrants. We have external examiners who come in and certify that we
have and are complying with these best practices.
When our agency
started the accreditation process back in 1993, our existing policies were a
mish-mash of legacy rules that were developed over many years of trial and
error—they had never undergone an external review. We were a good agency, but
we did not have a “gold-standard” set of state or nationally recognized
policies based on best practices developed by professionals. As we became
accredited, we grew more professional, our community-centered customer service
culture improved, and we focused on nationally recognized best practices to do
our job. Accreditation provides a comprehensive systematic approach for agencies
to improve their professionalism, culture, and effectiveness as a public safety
agency. Accreditation works. It changes police culture for the better and it
holds agencies accountable.
You wouldn’t send your
child to an un-accredited college or to a non-accredited medical professional
or hospital. Why in the world are we not insisting that our law enforcement
agencies be accredited?
So here is a question:
why do politicians want to insist on punishing cops and police agencies with
another layer of lawsuits rather than give those agencies a professional system
to improve and reform antiquated police culture? Let’s incentivize agencies
towards professionalism, not penalize them through an avalanche of lawsuits.
I ask our federal
lawmakers to forget about politics and talking points and work together with
communities across our great nation to focus on something that has had a proven
positive effect on the quality of policing in America: professional police
accreditation.
Are you tired of people taking stuff that isn’t theirs as much as we are? This may be “just a bike” to some people, but that bike was someone’s transportation! The guy pictured went to Walmart (7450 Cypress Gardens Bvld.) on June 27 around 8 pm. He sees a bike that is chained to a concreete pole outside of the building. He enters Walmart and when he leaves, he goes to the bike, cuts the chain and off he rides. (insert angry face) Anyone who recognizes him is asked to call Sgt. Hall at 863-291-5736.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-vehicle crash Wednesday evening, June 30, 2021, on North Combee Road at Tanglewood Street in unincorporated Lakeland.
The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received the first 911-call regarding a fiery collision between a semi-truck and car at about 7:22 PM.
Bystanders at the scene managed to pull the driver out of his burning car, while the driver of the truck was able to exit his vehicle without injury.
Upon the arrival of Polk County Fire Rescue personnel, the driver of the car was determined to be deceased. He was identified as 25-year old Etiel Diaz of Lakeland.
The truck driver was identified as 66-year old Guillermo Solorzano of Lakeland.
The PCSO Traffic Homicide Unit responded to assume control of the investigation and was joined by the Crime Scene Unit.
According to the preliminary investigation, Mr. Diaz was driving a black 2012 Volkswagen 2-door, and Mr. Solorzano was driving a green 2014 Freightliner semi-truck with a 53-foot trailer hauling tires.
The evidence and witness statements revealed that Mr. Diaz was driving north on North Combee Road, while Mr. Solorzano’s semi-truck was southbound, and the vehicles were approaching the intersection of Tanglewood Street (a T-intersection which heads west off of North Combee Road).
Mr. Diaz’s car began to slide into the southbound lanes, and the semi-truck crashed into the passenger-side of the Volkswagen.
Post-impact, the semi-truck pushed the Volkswagen about 75-feet as the truck came to a stop, and both vehicles caught on fire.
The area had experienced rainfall just prior to the crash, and it is believed that Mr. Diaz was attempting to make a turn onto Tanglewood Street when the car began to slide.
North Combee Road was closed in both directions for approximately four hours.
No charges are anticipated but a final determination is pending completion of the investigation.
