News and Investigations

News & Investigations

News Releases and Public Information

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 Meghan Petty. 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.

Mar 1, 2025

Man crashes in traffic, gets arrested by PCSO for trafficking drugs and other crimes

Media Contact: Brian Bruchey, PIO

A crash on Friday, February 28, 2025, south of Lakeland resulted in one of the drivers being arrested for numerous crimes.

At about 12:25pm, three PCSO detectives rolled-up on a crash that had just occurred at the intersection of US 98 North and Winter Lake Road. The detectives were in the process of assessing the scene and vehicle occupants when one man, 60-year old Jimmy Edward Wyndham of Bartow stepped out of the driver's seat of a silver Ford F-150.

Jimmy told one of the detectives he fell asleep, but the detective noticed something wasn't quite right about Jimmy--he was sweating profusely and acting erratically, and he handed the detective his baggie of methamphetamine.

Then detectives discovered Jimmy also had two large baggies of methamphetamine in his right pocket, which weighed a total of 41.30 grams.

A black bag on the floor of the Ford contained numerous additional baggies containing marijuana (4.33 grams), meth (17.45 grams), and cocaine (2 grams).

A shotgun shell was found in the center console.

Jimmy admitted that he used meth about 5-10 minutes before the crash. He also confessed to the detective that he was en route to complete some drug sales when the crash occurred.

The occupants of the other were uninjured.

Jimmy Edward Wyndham was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail and charged with: Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Ammunition by a Convicted Felon, Trafficking in Methamphetamine over 28 grams, Possession of Methamphetamine With Intent to Sell, Keeping a Motor Vehicle for Drugs (2nd violation), Tampering with Physical Evidence, DUI, and DUI with Property Damage.