TAMPA — Increasingly depraved behavior at a popular lake has earned the wrath of a Florida sheriff, and his crackdown began with arresting eight people accused of being involved in a “riot” that surfaced in a social media video.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrests during an Aug. 12 news conference that noted stunned families are witnessing everything from drunken brawls to public sex at the “Point” on Lake Winterset.
“We realize you go out on the boat to have fun. … But there’s a few people who do things that’s so outrageous that it shocks the community,” Judd said.
“The conduct is reprehensible. … You have unleashed the teeth of the dog and now we’re going to start biting you.”
Judd said behavior at the lake reached a dangerous new low around 3 p.m. on August 2, when a group of men engaged in “a riot” on a lakeside lot posted with at least 15 “no trespassing” signs.
The participants were gone by the time deputies arrived, the sheriff said. But cell phone video posted August 10 on social media showed participants punching and kicking each other, and at least two people were knocked out, including one who fell “headfirst into the lake while unconscious,” according to the sheriff’s office.
One witness, a woman, is seen in the video performing CPR on an unconscious person as the brawl continues around them.
“Several small children are observed (in the video) in close proximity to the fight,” the sheriff’s office said. “A witness reported being on a nearby boat with his family, including his five-year-old grandson, when the riot occurred and stated the incident … caused distress to his family.”
The video and witnesses helped identify the eight suspects, Judd said.
The eight suspects range in age from 17 to 40, and the charges include rioting, committing an affray, trespassing and disorderly conduct. One man was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, officials said.
Judd noted his marine patrols would be back at the lake in the coming weekend locking up violators and towing away their vehicles and watercraft.
“We’re over it. … Our marine patrol people are going to be out there. Some you’re going to see, some you’re not going to see,” he said at the press conference.
“We’re going to put people in jail this weekend for conduct that we previously tried to warn you about. So, go home and get your bond money together right now. You can carry it in your pocket. It will help you get out of jail quicker.”
Lake Winterset is a public lake that covers 544 acres and about a 55-mile drive east from Tampa.
By MARK PRICE/McClatchy News
