News and Investigations

A woman was arrested following a domestic disturbance in Lake Wales Monday afternoon, June 24, 2024, in which she intentionally drove over a man who was holding an infant, injuring them both.

Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office authored an arrest warrant for 27-year old Aaliyah Ross of Lake Wales, and located her in Orlando where she was arrested. She is currently being held in the Orange County Jail.

The 25-year old male victim was treated and released from the hospital, having suffered bruising to his body and lungs.

The 16-month old boy remains hospitalized with a broken left shoulder and collar bone, multiple broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, and abrasions and bruising on his body.

As the argument escalated between Ross and the man, she placed two other small children (4 years old, and 6 months old) into her car, and got into the driver’s seat of a Toyota Corolla. The man picked up the infant and began to run away as Ross accelerated directly at the two victims, and ran over them before she crashed the vehicle into a trailer. 

At approximately 12:22pm, Ross returned to the now unoccupied residence and put the infant inside, leaving him alone there while she left again.

Following her arrest, Ross told a detective that there have been several times in the past that she has acted as if she was going to run over the man, but she would swerve at the last second to avoid hitting him. She said she assumed that because of that, he would have moved out of the way in this instance, but he did not.

“Aaliyah Ross made a series of incredibly unthinkable choices Monday: running over a man and a baby with a car, leaving the baby alone, and failing to get medical treatment for the obviously injured baby. Someone who does this to a baby will do this to anyone—her uncontrollable rage is a threat to the public.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff.

The other two children were located and the Florida Department of Children and Families is currently evaluating their plan of custody.

Ross will be transferred from the Orange County Jail to the Polk County Jail.

She is being charged with: Aggravated Child Abuse (F1), Aggravated Battery-Domestic (F2), Negligent Child Abuse (F3), Battery-Domestic (M1), and Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property Damage (M2).

The investigation is ongoing.

View additional comments by Sheriff Judd on this investigation here