Former Florida prison sergeant accused of baseball bat attack, ramming patrol car in Haines City
Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office
HAINES CITY, Fla. - A 32-year-old woman is in custody after attacking a man with an aluminum baseball bat, triggering a school lockdown, and crashing head-on into a patrol vehicle in Haines City, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Haines City bat attack
What we know:
Deputies responded to a Haines City home around 8 a.m. following reports that Jasmine Janae Cuyler, 32, attacked a man with an aluminum baseball bat.
The victim reported that Cuyler struck him with her fists, picked up the bat, smashed his television, and hit him several times before running away.
PCSO said Cuyler left the scene in a white 2016 Toyota Corolla. A deputy attempted a traffic stop at County Road 544 and 30th Street.
Deputies said Cuyler refused orders to exit the vehicle and sped toward Haines City High School, causing the campus to be placed on heightened security.
Patrol car rammed head-on
Timeline:
According to investigators, Cuyler drove down a dirt road between the high school and a cemetery before making a sudden U-turn. Deputies say she intentionally rammed her vehicle head-on into an occupied patrol cruiser.
The deputy immobilized the Toyota with the cruiser and ordered Cuyler out of the car. PCSO said she refused to exit and yelled at the deputy that he would have to kill her. She was pulled from the vehicle and arrested.
PCSO said the victim suffered cuts and bruises from the initial attack and no deputies were injured.
Prior arrests and history
The backstory:
Court records show this is Cuyler's third jail booking in two years for physical violence. She was previously arrested on March 29, 2025, and July 26 for attacks against the same victim.
Deputies also learned Cuyler previously worked as a sergeant at the Charlotte Correctional Institute. She was previously sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service for smuggling cellphones into the facility.
Sheriff Judd addresses threat
What they're saying:
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd condemned the escalating violence following her arrest.
"Jasmine Cuyler has clearly shown that she is a violent person, and the severity of her violence is getting worse. She hadn’t even been out of jail more than two weeks before getting arrested again. She’s obviously a threat to the victim, and without a doubt a threat to the public in general," Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which provided arrest details and official statements, as well as county court records.