Polk County News

A three-legged alligator mom was seen limping through Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, moving her hatchlings from their nest to nearby water — one mouthful at a time.

A Georgia deputy police chief who was arrested last week for soliciting a prostitute during a sting operation in Polk County was in town for a polygraph seminar, investigators said. Prior to his arrest, he told undercover detectives that he had been conned out of $200 by a prostitute the night before.

A Polk County firefighter is out of a job and behind bars after investigators arrested him for multiple counts of possession of child pornography. When detectives showed up at his fire station to investigate, they said his computer was actively downloading pornography files.

A father of two was fatally shot while attending a large impromptu block party in Winter Haven. The killer is still out there and police are hoping the right person steps forward to help them identify a suspect.

Sixteen people were arrested during an undercover child porn sting by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Suspects included veterans, a former corrections officer, and two Winter Haven friends who created child pornography with three girls they had access to. In total, five child victims were identified.

A jury convicted 20-year-old Elijah Stansell of first-degree murder for the death of beloved Polk City librarian Suzette Penton, who died in 2020 after she was intentionally run over by a van. Stansell was behind the wheel and trying to flee after he and several other teens had attacked the victim's son.

An online child predator investigation resulted in the arrest of a dozen suspects, including a Walt Disney World bus driver who was taken into custody while he was still in his work uniform.

Polk County Fire Rescue is mourning the loss of 56-year-old paramedic Douglas Clemons, who died Tuesday while on duty at his fire station. Clemons was a 27-year veteran of Polk County EMS.