Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested four men at two convenience store locations for selling synthetic cannabinoid substances, often referred to as “K-2.” The two convenience stores are: The Beverage Castle, 525 S. Lake Shore Way, Lake Alfred and The Sunoco Superway #6 Store at 201 Dundee Road, Dundee. Detectives responded to the stores based on information provided by citizens (Sunoco Superway, Dundee) and by the Lake Alfred Police Department (Beverage Castle, Lake Alfred).

On January 25, 2012, PCSO Vice detectives conducted an undercover operation at the Peace River Park located on SR 640 in the Homeland area. During the operation, male detectives made contact with various men in the park, four of whom exposed themselves to the detectives and/or asked the detectives to perform sex acts on them.

Sheriff Grady Judd is pleased to announce that during 2010 and 2011, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit successfully cleared every case it was assigned to investigate. The number of homicides in the Sheriff’s Office’s jurisdiction in 2011 was 12; the number of homicides in 2010 was also 12. The homicides are reported annually to FDLE as a part of the annual collection of UCR crime statistics.

On Thursday, January 19, 2012, Polk County Sheriff’s School Resource deputies, along with the assistance of a PCSO Explorer, conducted “Operation Pop Top” in an effort to combat the illegal sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. The operation was conducted in the Haines City and Davenport areas.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Section confirmed today, Thursday, January 19, 2012, the first positive Rabies case in Polk County for 2012.

The Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) named Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detention Deputy Jonathan Bowman as the State’s 2012 Corrections Officer of the Year Award during its Mid-Winter Conference held in Jacksonville, January 15-18, 2012. The award was presented Tuesday, January 17, 2012.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 21-year-old Kenneth Alan Congdon, Jr., (DOB 11.15.1990) 658 Hart Lake Drive, Winter Haven for Leaving the Scene of a Crash with a Death. It has been determined that Congdon on November 13, 2011 at approximately 1:51 a.m. was operating a 2006 GMC Truck that violated the right-of-way of Timmy Alan Kelly, who was riding a 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle causing a crash on Cypress Gardens Road near Tyler Road in Winter Haven.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, Sheriff Grady Judd presented certificates of completion to eleven people – ten men and one woman – after they each completed the rigorous PCSO SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) training school.