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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 Alicia Manautou. 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.
Apr 5, 2019
Operation Pop Top leads to two arrests in Davenport; six stores refused to sell alcohol to minors
Media Contact: Sherrie Morgan, PIO
On Tuesday, April 2, 2019, PCSO school resource deputies conducted “Operation Pop Top”— an ongoing effort to enforce laws related to the sale of alcohol to minors. Deputies send high school teenagers into stores to see if they can buy alcohol. The students are PCSO Explorers, which is a program designed for students who are interested in learning about law enforcement careers.
During the operation, 22-year-old Jatajah Graham of Haines City, was the only on-duty clerk at the 7-11 convenience store at 6205 Lake Wilson Road in Davenport, when she sold an alcoholic beverage to our 19-year-old Explorer. Graham asked the Explorer his age in which he replied "I'm 19." Graham then asked the Explorer for his birthdate and ID and completed the sale of the alcoholic beverage. Graham was taken into custody and charged with selling alcohol to a person under 21 and transported to the Polk County Jail.
Deputies also arrested 62-year-old Mohamed Elyaman of Frostproof, who was the on-duty clerk at the E-Z Food Store located at 5945 Highway 17/92 North in Davenport. Elyaman sold our explorer an alcoholic beverage. He was taken into custody and charged with selling alcohol to a person under 21 and transported the county jail.
The following stores were found to be in compliance with Florida beverage laws:
1. WAWA #5299, 8103 Lake Wilson Road, Davenport Florida 33897.
2. 7-11 #38193, 3141 Ronald Reagan Parkway, Davenport, Florida 33897.
3. Loves Truck Stop #627, 45000 US HWY 27 South, Davenport, Florida 33897.
4. Circle K #2722125, 45489 US HWY 27 North, Davenport, Florida 33897.
5. Circle K #2722209, 101 Polo Park BL East, Davenport, Florida 33897.
6. Circle K #2704883, 2444 US HWY 27 South, Davenport, Florida 33897.
“We are going to hold store employees accountable for selling alcohol to those under 21 years old. It’s their responsibility to check ID’s at all times. The stores and employees found in compliance did a great job following the law. We congratulate them.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff