The search for the lone suspect in an early morning armed robbery ended less than 25 minutes after Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies were notified of the crime on Saturday, August 5, 2023.
The robbery at the Circle K store at 4980 Spirit Lake Road near Winter Haven was reported at 2:57am. Following a foot chase through residential neighborhoods, deputies apprehended the suspect, 24-year old Keith Rhoden of Winter Haven at about 3:20am.
“The responding patrol deputies, aided by K-9 and Aviation, handled this robbery exactly how you would want them to; this was a textbook response that resulted in a dangerous criminal being taken off of the streets very quickly. Credit also goes to the victim who provided a great description of the suspect and the direction which he fled.”– Grady Judd, Sheriff
According to the arrest affidavit, Rhoden approached the Circle K employee outside of the store, pointed a handgun at him, and ordered him to take him to the cash register.
In addition to taking money from the register, Rhoden also stole some Black & Mild cigars and a bottle of Mountain Dew before fleeing out of the store, heading north.
As deputies arrived in the area, they saw Rhoden, who was wearing black clothing and white Crocs, walking near a field north of Spirit Lake Road and Thornhill Road.
Rhoden was found by deputies hiding under a pickup truck at a residence in the Oak Preserve neighborhood, and he surrendered.
The stolen money and cigars were found in Rhoden’s possession, as well as the neon green face mask that he wore during the robbery. A handgun was recovered nearby.
Keith Rhoden was arrested and charged with: robbery with a firearm (FL), armed burglary structure (F1), and violation of probation (felony petit theft). His prior criminal history includes petit theft, resisting arrest without violence, and providing false name to a LEO. His probation for felony petit theft had just started on July 20, 2023.
There were no injuries to the victim, deputies, or the suspect.
———— Mark your calendars! Polk County Parks and Recreation is getting ready to send out letters straight from the North Pole to children in Polk County!
Monday, August 14 at 8a.m., we will open registrations for children to receive special letters from our pen pals in the North Pole. For families with children up to age 12. Families may register up to five children.
Registration is free, but will be limited to 1,000 registrations. Stay tuned to our Facebook page on the morning of August 14 for the registration link!
Haines City Police Department are looking for a 15-year-old teen who has been missing since July 25. Investigators were informed of Paul Robinson’s disappearance on July 27. Robinson’s mother stated on the day he went missing, she told Paul to stand outside while his room was being searched. She later exited the home to find her son was missing. Robinson was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. Robinson is known to frequent Wawa convenience stores. If located, please contact Detective Trajbar at 863-557-2275.
64 New Homes May Come to Lake Wales Now That City Commission Approved First Reading of Residential PDP
by James Coulter
Nearly 64 new residential units may be built in Lake Wales now that the City Commission has approved the first reading of a special use permit approval for a residential planned development project (PDP).
At their meeting on Tuesday evening, Lake Wales City Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the first reading of an ordinance for a 64-unit preliminary subdivision plat and a special exception use permit for a residential PDP.
The proposed subdivision plat is planned to be constructed on approximately 9 acres of land south of Burns Avenue, east of Wales Drive North, and north of Hillside Avenue.
The site is situated at the end of 7th Street North with, as the city memo explains, a “significant slope creating a vista towards the southwest. The plat will include 64 residential units, which includes 57 townhome units and single-family lots.
“The property currently has a land use designation Low-Density Residential (LDR), which allows for 5 units per acre,” the city memo for the ordinance states.
However, through the approval of the special use permit, the property will be permitted to have, “a density of 12 units per acre, giving them a maximum of 101 units; they are proposing 64 units for a density of 6.78 units per acre.”
If approved, the proposed residential PDP could generate, according to the city memo, “an average of $200,000 in taxable value per unit, it could potentially result in over $12.8 million in taxable value, and generate a little over $81,000 in ad valorem taxes.” Both the city staff and planning and zoning board had recommended its approval.
Lake Wales City Commissioners have been approving several proposed residential PDPs within the past month. At their meeting on Jul. 5, they approved a PDP that will build 300 new single-family homes on approximately 29.94 acres of land south and west of Old Scenic Highway and east of Scenic Highway North. Likewise, they approved another PDP for 67 single-family units to be built on 8.66 acres of land south of Passion Play Road and west of 11th Street South.
Polk County is the fastest-growing county in Florida and the seventh fastest-growing in the nation, according to a two-year study by the GiveWell Community Foundation and United Way of Central Florida. The study finds that the county’s total population is expected to increase by over 20 percent by 2030.
16th Annual Ridge Scenic Highway “39 Mile” Yard Sale
The Ridge Scenic Highway CME will host the 16th Annual “39 Mile” Yard Sale on Saturday, November 4th 2023, from 8:00 am – 2:00 pm along the entire length of the Ridge Scenic Highway, (SR-17), from Haines City to Frostproof. Vendors are encouraged to reserve their space at one of numerous official sites as thousands of “treasure hunters” are expected.
In previous years, spontaneous vendors have sprung up all along the highway and area restaurants, shops, and service providers offer enticing “Yard Sale” specials throughout the day. The “39 Mile Yard Sale” was started in 2007, to encourage tourism in the Central Florida communities along the Ridge Scenic Highway, and to promote awareness of the natural beauty of the Lake Wales Ridge, an area of rolling hills and scenic vistas; including many historic sites and nationally recognized attractions.
Polk County Fire Rescue responded to a two-alarm commercial structure fire on Holden Road in Lakeland at 2:16 p.m. on Aug. 2.
Upon PCFR’s arrival, smoke was observed billowing from a commercial building. The fire was contained to the single structure at that time. Due to the severity of conditions observed on scene, the fire was quickly categorized as a two-alarm fire to ensure that additional resources were en route to assist with firefighting efforts.
PCFR crews worked to gain control of the fire and to prevent it from spreading. It was later determined that the commercial building was being used as a provisional storage unit.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, and the incident is being investigated by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Twenty-two PCFR units responded to the scene. One PCFR employee was transported from the scene as a precautionary measure.
A single-vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon, August 2, 2023 in Lakeland resulted in the deaths of a mother and her 9-year-old son.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched at about 4:30 pm, along with Polk County Fire Rescue to Tom Costine Road west of Beverly Hills Road. Upon arrival, emergency responders located 43-year-old Tera Kita and 9-year-old Brandon Arcadipane, both from Lakeland, deceased at the scene.
According to the investigation so far Ms. Kita was driving a gold 2000 Chevrolet S10 Blazer northbound. As she began to take the right-hand curve, the rear wheels of the Blazer lost traction and the SUV began to slide. The SUV then exited the road on the south shoulder where it rolled upside down into a water-filled ditch.
“This is devastating – a family has lost a mother and a son, and our hearts break for them.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Heavy rain was reported in the area at the time of the crash. The road was closed for approximately 4 hours during the investigation, which remains on-going.
On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, at approximately 10:28 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 5100 block of US 98 North for a traffic crash involving three vehicles. At the scene, officers located three unresponsive occupants inside one vehicle, a 2012 Nissan Versa. The Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department all arrived on the scene to begin life-saving measures. The driver of the Nissan was extricated from the vehicle and transported to Lakeland Regional Health where despite the best efforts of medical professionals, she was declared deceased a short time later by hospital staff. The front seat passenger and the rear passenger of the Nissan were declared deceased at the scene by on-scene emergency medical personnel.
The driver of the second vehicle, a 2006 Lincoln Mark LT truck, had minor injuries. The driver of the third vehicle, a 2010 Toyota Corolla, also sustained minor injuries. Neither driver was transported to a medical facility for treatment.
Based on information gathered thus far in the investigation, officers believe the Nissan Versa was traveling northbound on US 98 North in the inside lane at a high rate of speed. At the same time, the Lincoln pick-up truck was traveling southbound on US 98 North, entered the left turn lane, and was attempting to turn left into the plaza located on the east side of the roadway. As the Lincoln began to make its turn, it was impacted by the Nissan. Post-impact, both vehicles rotated and began to slide in an eastbound direction. The Nissan came to final rest in the entrance/exit to the plaza. The Lincoln impacted the Toyota Corolla, which was attempting to exit the plaza and turn right onto US 98 North. Both the Lincoln and the Toyota came to final rest in the roadway.
Members of the Traffic Homicide team responded to the scene and took over the investigation. The crash remains an open investigation. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact Traffic Crash Investigator Officer Tyler Anderson at [email protected].
To be honest, when it first premiered, I hadn’t taken much notice or interest in Sound of Freedom. However, two things about the movie quickly piqued my curiosity.
First was how much this little-known film from a little-known indie studio made at the box office. Surprisingly enough, Sound of Freedom managed to outgross big-budget blockbusters like The Flash or Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny.
Second was the controversy surrounding this film. Many mainstream media outlets, and left-wing critics and pundits especially, have lambasted this movie as “reactionary”, “right-wing” propaganda, with The Guardian going so far as to call it “Qanon adjacent.”
So how can such a small film from a small studio generate such large controversy and big numbers at the box office? Does Sound of Freedom deserve all the attention? Or is this all simply much ado about nothing?
Sound of Freedom begins in Honduras, where a little girl and her brother are approached by a media scout promising a big career in the entertainment industry. If this offer sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. It turns out to be a front for a child sex trafficking operation that traps both little children.
Enter Tim Ballard, a Special Agent for Homeland Security. When Tim rescues the little boy, he vows to find his sister and return her to her family, even if it involves going against his superiors and forcing his way through Hell on Earth. The question is, will he succeed?
Sound of Freedom is based on the real story of Tim Ballard, a former U.S. government agent and an anti-human trafficking activist who served as the founder of Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.). The movie was originally filmed five years ago and slated for release by 20th Century Fox. However, following Disney’s acquisition, the movie was dropped and eventually picked up by Angel Studios, an independent crowd-funded studio.
While Sound of Freedom is being marketed as a thriller, don’t go into the movie expecting yet another action flick with high-octane chase scenes or climatic battles. Instead, the film is more of a grounded, character-driven drama.
Jim Caviezel does an excellent job playing the main character. Rather than yet another over-the-top action character, Jim remains reserved and grounded in his role. His performance portrays a man who struggles with the evil deeds he has witnessed throughout his career, yet remains determined to maintain human goodness by fighting back against the evil.
Being a more-grounded character, Tim does not engage in the over-the-top dramatics or tropes of other action characters, which, in turn, helps to subtly and artfully subvert said tropes.
For example, in one scene, Tim tries to gain intel from a prisoner. He goes to the man’s jail cell, where he notices a security camera inside. He tells the man to come with him for a “walk.” In any other movie, he would do that to beat the information out of him. Instead, he simply escorts the man to the courtyard for a leisurely smoke and chat.
Being a film about sex trafficking, the movie touches upon heavy, dark subjects; yet while other, bigger Hollywood studios would hyperfixate on the gratuitous (and even objectifying) aspect of that subject matter to entice audiences, this movie remains reserved yet no less pathos-inducing.
For example, in one scene, the young girl character is in a hotel room with a solicitor. The man shuts the blinds. The music stops abruptly for a few hallowing seconds before cutting to the girl crying in a bathtub. The implication is evident yet equally haunting.
Admittedly, the movie is quite melodramatic. The good characters are explicitly good and the bad characters are explicitly evil. Some critics would criticize this movie for lacking “nuance”, but sometimes, some issues need to be portrayed in clear black and white. Human trafficking is one of them. Sex trafficking, especially child sex trafficking, is unequivocally evil, so portraying everyone involved in it as evil, mustache-twirling villains is a good thing, actually!
Sound of Freedom has become controversial, mostly due to its association with the Qanon conspiracy. However, this movie was made five years ago before Qanon became popular. Not every portrayal or discussion of sex trafficking is about Qanon, and it’s not the film’s fault if people associate it with the conspiracy.
However, to be fair, many viewers who buy into the Qanon conspiracy will, no doubt, feel their beliefs vindicated by the movie—which, again, is not its fault. And it certainly doesn’t help that Jim Caviezel has made many infamous (and unfortunate) comments supporting Qanon.
One fair criticism involves the film’s depiction of sex trafficking. Many critics accused the film of not portraying the issue accurately. As with many other movies about real-world issues, the film does overdramatize and exaggerate the circumstances surrounding the issue for the sake of cinematic drama. As such, people should never gain all their information about any given topic from movies or media (as they are, for the most part, fiction), but should instead educate themselves on the matter through reliable, non-fictional sources.
Overall, Sound of Freedom is a decent thriller, and while it isn’t the greatest movie ever, the fact it surpassed many big-budget Hollywood films in both ticket sales and ratings is nothing to sneeze at. If you’re looking for a good movie that isn’t the same-old Hollywood shlock, give this film a chance.
