News and Investigations

News & Investigations

News Releases and Public Information

Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.

PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Brian Bruchey, Carrie Horstman, and Meghan Petty. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org.

The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.

Jun 4, 2018

Three Polk County teens arrested in Auburndale trying to break into vehicles

Media Contact: Brian Bruchey, PIO

The Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested three teens early Sunday morning, June 3, 2018, after a nearby resident witnessed the boys attempting to get into a car. Arrested were 15-year-old Gavin Moran of Lakeland, 14-year-old Jacob Kreticos of Auburndale, and 14-year-old Maxx Draughn of Polk City. All three were charged with felonies.

At about 1:19 a.m., a resident in the Berkley Ridge neighborhood witnessed the boys trying to burglarize vehicles, notified the Sheriff's Office, and provided detailed descriptions of them.

Deputies quickly arrived, and found the trio walking down Dornich Drive, and they were given orders to stop. Two of the boys complied, but Draughn tried to flee. He was immediately captured.

All three suspects were wearing dark hoodies, and carrying flashlights. Two of the boys were wearing bandanas. Kreticos was wearing a backpack which was found to contain a screwdriver and a glass pipe with a small amount of marijuana.

The suspects admitted that they wore the bandanas in an attempt to conceal their identities. A third bandana was located on the property of one of the burglary victims.

"Three teenagers behaving badly were caught, and arrested, in large part because the witness notified us immediately, and provided not only an excellent description, but also which direction the suspects went. This perfectly exemplifies how good 'see something, say something' works. It was a great conclusion - a string of burglaries interrupted , and three juveniles being held accountable." - Grady Judd, Sheriff.

All three boys were arrested and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow, and charged with three counts of Attempted Burglary of Conveyance (F-3) for attempting to break into three different vehicles on Dornich Drive and Berkley Ridge Lane.

Draughn was additionally charged with Resisting (M-1). Kreticos was charged for Possession of Burglary Tools (F-3), and Possession of Marijuana (M-1) and Paraphernalia (M-1). Moran was also charged with Possession of Burglary Tools (F-3), and Violation of Probation (M-2).

Moran's prior criminal history includes three misdemeanors (Battery, Petit Theft, and Marijuana Possession). Prior criminal history for Draughn is one misdemeanor charge for Battery. Kreticos had no prior criminal history.

Maxx Draughn - Jacob Kreticos - Gavin Moran