06

SEBRING -- It was almost like kicking over an anthill. A simple traffic stop of a car driving with no headlights just before midnight on March 21, 2017 in front of 3419 Baxter Ave. in Sebring started a chain of events that over the next three months led to the arrest of 14 people (some of them more than once) on 66 felony charges and multiple misdemeanors and the seizure of more than 341 grams of methamphetamine as well as three guns. All of the people arrested lived -- or at least spent most

July

2017

05

Highlands County Sheriff’s Office detectives are working to solve a string of vehicle burglaries that have occurred over the past few weeks. So far, more than 30 cases have been reported, starting in the northern region of the county and slowly working south. Anywhere between 5 and 10 cars are being hit at a time, and many of the cars have had windows broken out in the process. The latest burglaries were in the Sebring Hills area and on Lakeview Drive on the night of July 4-5. The best defense

July

2017

04

All three county law enforcement agencies were involved in a vehicle and foot chase early July 4 that led to the arrest of two Lake Placid men wanted for an armed carjacking in Polk County. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, which had been stolen at gunpoint earlier in the night, was spotted by a Lu Milbrecht of the Sebring Police Department headed south on U.S. 27 near Sparta Road a little after 4 a.m. The vehicle fled an attempted traffic stop at speeds over 100 mph as HCSO units joined the pursuit to

July

2017

03

LAKE PLACID -- A man is in custody after a fire at 3032 Peach Tree Drive in Leisure Lakes Monday, July 3. A neighbor called in the fire at 5:27 p.m. By the time the first deputies arrived, the home was fully engulfed with flames shooting dozens of feet out of the roof. Shortly after the fire was called in, volunteer firefighters at the DeSoto City Volunteer Fire Department station on George Boulevard called 911 to report a man, later identified as 56-year-old William Chrisman Dowda, had driven

July

2017

30

SEBRING -- Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous opioid narcotic. It has killed thousands in the United States -- most notably music legend Prince -- and is a growing concern for law enforcement agencies everywhere. But while finding sellers and users of fentanyl is important, so is protecting the ones wearing a badge, whether they have two legs or four. Fentanyl can be inhaled or even absorbed accidentally, and it can be deadly. The Drug Enforcement Administration says fentanyl is a “grave

June

2017