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Polk County Sheriff’s Phone# 863-298-6200
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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.
On Monday, February 18, 2019, PCSO responded to the Guns Galore store located at 2440 Highway 92 East in Lakeland in reference to an attempted burglary that happened at approximately 1:50 a.m. The front window glass of the business was found shattered and video surveillance showed two black males attempting to break in.
The first suspect was wearing a blue jacket, jeans and a mask that left a portion of his face uncovered. Video shows him pulling a framing hammer from a bag and smashing the glass. The second suspect was observed wearing a blue hat and a possible bandanna over his face. After the glass broke, the store alarm sounded and both suspects fled the area.
Surveillance video also revealed information to link the suspect to a Lakeland school. The first suspect’s jacket had an Air Force ROTC patch on the upper arm connecting him to Kathleen High School. The school resource deputy, a teacher, and a dean at the school were able to identify the suspect as 17-year-old Jaquavious Harrison.
On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, detectives made contact with Harrison who confessed to smashing the front window of Guns Galore. Further investigation led detectives to be able to identify the second suspect as 14-year-old Kaiden Brown. The investigation revealed that the two teens met in a local park before riding their bikes to the gun store where they attempted the break-in. Brown was already on probation for a burglary charge stemming from September, 12, 2018.
Harrison was arrested and charged with the following:
• Attempted Burglary Structure (F-3)
• Conspiracy to Commit Burglary Structure (F-3)
• Criminal Mischief >$200 and <$1,000 (M-1)
Harrison has no prior criminal history.
Brown was arrested and charged with the following:
• Attempted Burglary Structure (F-3)
• Conspiracy to Commit Burglary Structure (F-3)
• Violation of Probation (M-2)
Brown’s previous arrests include burglary, criminal mischief and probation violation.
“These young men are facing felony charges for attempting to break-in to a gun store, which is a very serious offense. Thankfully, the alarm did its job—along with steel security bars at the door—and no guns were stolen. Our detective did a good job linking Mr. Harrison’s jacket to where we could find him. We also credit the store owner’s security system and steel-reinforced storefront.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff