Polk County deputies have arrested 19 gang members that are responsible for a series of violent inter-gang attacks, according to Polk County Sheriff's Office. Overall, this brings the Violent Gang Investigative Task Force's total arrests up to 144 gang members and gang associates since it was formed in February 2023, Sheriff Grady Judd said.
"There's a lot more arrests to come," Judd said. "I'm not here today reporting this is the end of this operation."
Operation Drive-By Bye arrests 19 gang members
Deputies have arrested 19 known gang members as part of an operation Judd said was launched by Polk Det. Brett Hermelbracht in July 2023. Hermelbracht said he investigating a drive-by shooting in unincorporated Winter Haven in which two neighboring homes were shot at. The target was a known gang member's residence that has been shot at four times within two years, according to Hermelbracht. The other house belonged to a sleeping elderly couple.
"When a grandmother can't sleep peacefully at night because she catches an errant bullet, that's over the top," Judd said.
The July 2023 shooting was linked to five other drive-by shootings tied to gang violence, Hermelbracht said, primarily in Winter Haven, Haines City and the Waverly area. Three individuals have died as a result of gang-related violence.
"In a lot of these shootings, automatic weapons were used," he said. "These are illegally altered firearms, making them fully automatic. They are able to shoot a rapid number of rounds in a very short period of time."
The gang task force has seized 57 firearms as part of multiple investigations, Judd said, six of which were confirmed to be stolen. Judd said one of the guns traveled from as far away as Texas. He encouraged gun owners to call and report any stolen firearms.
PCSO: Event that started it all
The event that started it all was the murder of 19-year-old Dyreon Outsey, who was shot and killed in May 2021 while drivingalong Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Haines Cityin his Toyota 4Runner. Tyquaveon Robinson, then 19, of Winter Haven, and Branden Johnson, 31, of Haines City, were arrested in connection with the shooting.
Robinson was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in state prison in December 2023 on a plea bargain, according to records from Polk County Clerk of Courts.
Three days later, first retaliatory shooting
Three days later, Deshawn Williams, then 18, and Tyrone Berry, then 19, and a 17-year-old committed a drive-by shooting with an assault rifle in east Winter Haven, according to the Sheriff's Office. Kevin Marcel, then 22, returned fire as he was standing outside the residence. Berry and Williams received non-life-threatening injuries. The 17-year-old male, Williams and Berry were all arrested and charged with attempted murder, the Sheriff's Office said.
The 17-year-old pleaded no contest to one felony charge each attempted first-degree murder. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2023, with credit for time served. Williams pleaded no contest a felony charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to four years in prison.
The State Attorney's Office later dropped all charges against Berry, according to Polk County Clerk of Court's online documents.
Shootout at Cypress Lanes Bowling Alley
In January 2022, two rival gangs started a running gun battle between two cars starting at Cypress Lanes Bowling Alley in Winter Haven. Ira Footman, 22, was killed and four others were injured as occupants of the two vehicles fired shots at each other along a route that ended on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Northeast 11th Street in Winter Haven. Antonio Lewis, then 21, a 16-year-old male and a 17-year-old male were eventually arrested and face multiple charges in Footman's death, including first-degree murder. These cases are still working their way through Polk County's court system.
Gang aggression escalates
These events led to a series of escalating attacks between these rival gangs, according to the Sheriff's Office. There were six more drive-by shootings between Dec. 4, 2022, and July 5, 2023. No one was killed in these shootings, although a 19-year-old woman and two teenage girls were injured in two shootings the same night in Lake Wales.
In January 2023, police arrested two gang members and six gang associates for breaking into a vacant rental property in the Lake Alfred area and using it as hangout. There was evidence found of drugs and weapons at the location, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Fatal Stabbing at Winter Haven Publix
The series of inter-gang events Hermelbracht uncovered came to an end with a fatal stabbing at a Publix Supermarket in Winter Haven on Nov. 10, 2023. Members of three different gangs got into a verbal argument that turned violent, according to the Sheriff's Office. Two individuals were stabbed with a 16-year-old male later dying of his injuries.
In January, Teville Xavier Burgess, 19, was arrested and faces a first-degree felony charge of manslaughter. Burgess had entered the Publix and bought a can of soup before grabbing and carrying a frying pan, according to a police affidavit. He returned that item and picked up a paring knife with a 3½-inch blade, which he paid for before wielding it in the ensuing fight.
Arrests impact on gang-related crimes, violence
Judd said the Violent Gang Investigative Task Force's multiple investigations and 144 arrests have significantly reduced gang activity in Polk. In 2019, Judd said there were six recorded incidents of gang-related shootings in the county. In the 18 months prior to the task force's creation, the level had increased to 87 gang-related or suspected gang-related shootings.
Judd said suspected gang-related shootings have dropped to 61 events in 18 months, which he said is a 30% decrease. The Sheriff's Office is keeping an eye on social media, saying gang members are using social media to share photos, videos and even rap songs about their actions and events.
There is a separate series of investigations underway on the west side of Polk County, Judd said, which the sheriff says have resulted in a drop of more than 60% in gang-related activities. One of the initiatives on the west half of the county was Operation Gangs and Guns, which ran from March 2023 to October 2023, resulting in the arrest of six gang members for 38 different instances of car burglaries.
