The principal of Sikes Elementary School in Lakeland has been accused of raping and molesting an 11-year-old girl. ...more

December 18, 2009

The principal of Sikes Elementary School in Lakeland has been accused of raping and molesting an 11-year-old girl. The charges against Corey Lynn Swindler, 38, do not involve a student at the school. Swindler is not related to the girl but has had access to her for about 10 years through a domestic relationship, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. ...more

December 17, 2009

A county maintenance worker was struck and killed by a vehicle that veered off the roadway this morning, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. ...more

December 9, 2009

A Tenoroc High School student died Tuesday evening after being struck by a car as he walked home from school Tuesday afternoon. ...more

December 8, 2009

Federal authorities in the Middle District of Florida seized $42 million in forfeited assets in fiscal year 2009. ...more

December 7, 2009

Alongside the daily grind of armed robberies, missing persons and domestic violence calls, add a case of tree poisoning to the plate of the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Deputies say that sometime between August and September someone came onto private property on Pheasant Drive in Mulberry, drilled holes in several trees and plugged the holes with something. ...more

December 3, 2009

Jury selection was supposed to start Monday in the trial of Highlands County inmate Terrence Barnett, but it had nothing to do with his connection to the death of Polk County Detention Sgt. Ronnie Brown. ...more

November 28, 2009

One family member was killed and four others were injured when the pickup they were traveling in lost control on a curve in Fort Meade this morning, overturned and struck a tree. ...more

November 25, 2009

An Avon Park man remained in the Highlands County Jail Thursday under an $180,000 bond after being arrested on a warrant accusing him of exchanging sexual explicit correspondences and adult pornography with a 16-year-old girl. ...more

November 21, 2009

A woman whose vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic caused an accident that sent a Polk County Deputy to the hospital this morning, possibly with a broken leg. ...more

November 15, 2009