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Suspicious Gathering Sends Polk Deputies On Foot Chase

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

Updated: 08/20/2008 04:32 pm

Three Polk County deputies saw strange things afoot at a Lakeland elementary school Wednesday morning, and Deputy Nathaniel Weinreich was nearly struck by a Ford Explorer while trying to catch some possible burglars, Polk deputies say.

Three Lakeland residents were arrested .

The deputies first saw the green Ford about 1:11 a.m. while executing a warrant at a home on Swindell Road.

The Ford parked by Winston Elementary.

A few people got out of the Ford, and the deputies saw several people inside the fenced school property.

The deputies told the people to stop, but two of the people jumped the fence and tried running east. The deputies chased them.

The deputies also saw the Ford head west on Swindell.

"The driver of the vehicle passed Deputy Dewey Addison in the roadway and then, despite verbal commands to halt, intentionally drove towards Deputy Nathaniel Weinreich, as if to hit him," a Polk County Sheriff's Office news release states. Weinreich, who was hired in May 2007, is a patrol deputy in the sheriff's office's northwest district.

Weinreich, 32, fired two shots at the Ford from his .40-caliber Glock, and one of the shots struck the vehicle.

The deputies weren't injured.

Deputies found the vehicle by Ohio Road in Plant City.

They later arrested Michael Mixon, 19; Christopher Mathis, 16; and Dominique Young, 19.

Deputies say Mixon, of 943 Keen Court, drove his grandfather's Ford Explorer during the incident. Mixon was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer and being an accessory after the fact in a grand theft burglary. He also violated probation on a burglary charge and had an outstanding warrant for burglary, deputies said.

Mathis, of 641 Ponderosa Drive E., was charged with grand theft, burglary, trespassing on school grounds and resisting arrest without violence.

Young, of 3460 Swindell Road, was charged with burglary, grand theft, trespassing on school grounds and resisting arrest without violence. He had an outstanding warrant for burglary and petty theft, deputies said. He also was "the original suspect deputies were looking for prior to finding the suspects on Winston Elementary School property," the release states.

No injuries have been reported.

Deputies discovered that the elementary school hadn't been burglarized. Instead, five to six males in dark clothing used the school property to escape after burglarizing a home on nearby Mercury Drive, the release states.

They took a laptop computer from the home, but it was found on school property.

They also took tire rims from the home, along with some iced oatmeal cookies.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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