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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.
On Saturday, August 10, 2024, at around 7:00pm, PCSO deputies were dispatched to a reported stabbing which occurred in the Tierra Del Sol neighborhood off of US 27 in the Four Corners (Davenport) area.
When deputies arrived, they were met by 36-year old Maykol Farinas Rodriguez who said that he had stabbed a man, and he would cooperate with the investigation.
According to Mr. Rodriguez, he and his roommate got into an argument about over which one purchased the most amount of fuel for their shared vehicle. He said he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim four times.
A witness grabbed Mr. Rodriguez in a bear hug to stop the attack. The witness then drove the victim to a local hospital where the man remains in stable condition.
“Trying to kill someone over gas money is about as much of an irrational overreaction as you can get. Someone with this kind of violent temper needs to be locked away from society for a long time.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff.
Maykol Farinas Rodriguez was taken to the Sheriff's Processing Center and charged with attempted 2nd-degree murder.