Winter Haven gang member arrested for drive-by shooting, charged with attempted murder: Sheriff Judd
POLK COUNTY, Fla. - The Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested a documented gang member in Winter Haven in connection to a drive-by shooting that occurred in mid-November.
According to PCSO, Daquan Carey, 23, was arrested for numerous felonies related to a drive-by shooting on November 22 in the Waverly area of Lake Wales.
Early that morning, at around 3:20 a.m., detectives responded to 3rd Street in Waverly to find two victims that would describe the shooting. The victims told PCSO they were sitting in their car parked in front of a home when a dark SUV slowly approached.
As the SUV turned onto Hodge Street, the victims said they heard gunfire. After hearing the gunfire, they fled. The vehicle they were in was struck by at least one round, but neither of the victims were struck.
According to PCSO, authorities found numerous shell casings around the home. Through investigation, they identified Carey as the suspect and learned he was a documented gang member with an active felony warrant for failure to appear.
His original charges were possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of narcotics, and fleeing to elude.
Detectives obtained more warrants for first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On Wednesday, detectives responded to the Della Vita apartment complex in Winter Haven where they found Carey behind the wheel of a car in the parking lot.
As they were taking him into custody, he fought with them in an attempt to flee. After gaining control of him, detectives found a loaded Ruger handgun on him, as well as narcotics and marijuana in his pockets.
"We're fortunate that he didn't try to pull that handgun on our deputies," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "Daquan's fortunate that he didn't pull that handgun on our deputies. If he had, we would've shot him to pieces because we know he's very dangerous [and] we suspected he had a gun."
He was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with a plethora of charges, including battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, in addition to his attempted murder charge.
"Here's a message for you gang bangers," Judd said. "[If] you don't want to go to jail and prison, knock it off. Stop it. If you keep running and gunning in the streets with your buddies, then you're going to be locked up too.
We would rather see you locked up in prison alive than dead in the streets."