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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 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.
Fourteen suspects were arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at a gambling and rooster/cock-fighting event in Mulberry. Deputies responded to 107 Cesara Drive, and observed the male suspects gambling, rolling dice, and exchanging cash around a wooden table. A 10-year-old child was also present. On the ground around the table, deputies observed bags of a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine. Nearby they saw evidence of a recent cock-fight, and they requested that detectives from the PCSO Agriculture Crimes Unit respond to the scene.
Ag Crimes detectives obtained a search warrant for the property, and located seven dead roosters laying on the ground approximately 25 feet from where the gambling was occurring. Nearby, detectives found a disassembled fighting ring, a scale for weighing roosters before fighting, and chairs for people to sit and watch the fighting. Where the ring was set up, there were fresh feathers on the ground and stuck to the sides of the ring. Inside a shed on the property, detectives found rubber boxing gloves used to train roosters to fight, knives that are strapped to roosters' legs for fighting to the