POLK COUNTY

A woman wearing nothing but a towel answered the front door.

A woman who was upset with how long her order was taking in a McDonald’s drive-thru in Lakeland stormed into the restaurant, threw a violent tantrum and began twerking Thursday afternoon, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

A suspect is under arrest for the murder of a man found stuffed in a toolbox along a rural road.

A former Cook County judge was arrested in Florida on suspicion of solicitation of a prostitute. He was one of 108 people arrested as part of a law enforcement operation against human trafficking.

Polk County sheriff's detectives said Ayanna Davis admitted to having sex with the student — reported to be 16 years of age or younger — four times.

Florida's population has increased by about 22% to 21.5 million people, but the number of people being Baker Acted has skyrocketed by 121%.

The all-new Peppa Pig Theme Park will open as a certified autism center, leaders announced Tuesday at the IAAPA Expo at the Orange County Convention Center.

A dozen of the Polk County Public School employees were actively working before becoming ill.

Two people on motorcycles were shot on Interstate 4 early Friday during a gun battle between members of two motorcycle gangs, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. A woman who was riding on the back of one motorcycle was shot in the head and thrown from the bike, Judd said. She died Friday, the Sheriff’s office announced Saturday. A second motorcyclist was shot in the back. The incident ...

Three people were brutally beaten in Polk County, leaving two dead, Sheriff Grady Judd said Saturday. The third victim is also not expected to survive. Judd said sheriff’s deputies arrested Shaun Runyon, 39, for the murders after a two-hour manhunt. At a news briefing in Davenport, a community near Haines City, Judd outlined the series of events. Runyon worked for a Pennsylvania electric ...

A resourceful rattler has captured the attention of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Four people were killed, an 11-year-old girl was shot and deputies came under fire early Sunday in a neighborhood in North Lakeland, Florida.

A Florida pastor has helped bust a registered sex offender who had left two handwritten notes taped to the doors of a Polk County church’s middle school and high school youth group buildings seeking girls “of any age” according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

Nicole Franklin's attorney said she was experiencing severe schizophrenia and was not taking medication for it because she was pregnant.

BENTON, Tenn. – The mayor of a Tennessee town died on Election Day when he was hoping to get reelected. WBIR reports the Mayor of Benton, Jerry Stephens, died at the age of 80. Election officials for Polk County, where Benton is located, said that the race is still considered active. Officials said that if Stephens wins the race, the winners of the two town commissioner seats will appoint a new mayor at their next meeting. According to WBIR, the vice mayor, Joe Jenkins, will serve as mayor until a new one is sworn in.

Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg works the grill at the Polk County Democrats' Steak Fry in Des Moines, Iowa. (CNN) - 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls on Saturday sought to galvanize their Iowa support at the Polk County Steak Fry with a strategy that's not frequented in the campaign playbook: dance. The Steak Fry marks just the latest event in the first-in-the-nation caucus state where candidates will pitch themselves as the best contender to take on President Donald Trump. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who is looking to reframe her stagnating campaign by setting high expectations in Iowa, made her Steak Fry entrance alongside a marching drumline. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who captured 2% support in Iowa in a September CBS/YouGov Iowa poll, put on a similarly energetic display.