Click Here for ADA Accessible Format

Polk County Sheriff’s Phone# 863-298-6200

If in an emergency Dial 911

Polk County Sheriff Facebook Polk County Sheriff Twitter Polk County Sheriff Instagram Polk County Sheriff Youtube

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

News and Investigations

News & Investigations

News Releases and Public Information

Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.

PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Brian Bruchey, Carrie Horstman, and Alicia Manautou. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org

The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.

Jan 18, 2019

Nurse arrested for DUI and stealing medication from the Polk County Jail

Media Contact: Sherrie Morgan, PIO

On January 17, 2019, a PCSO deputy pulled over 39-year-old Griseida Montanez, of Brandon, for speeding in Mulberry around 8:30 p.m. When the deputy began speaking with her he smelled the odor of marijuana. When he looked inside, he saw two partially smoked cannabis cigarettes and a third one unsmoked. 

The deputy also found a bag containing two urine specimen cups containing various pills. One of the containers had 16 round white pills, identified as Baclofen 20 mg (a muscle relaxer) and 16 capsules, identified as Gabapentin (an anti-seizure, nerve disorder medication). 

Montanez was asked if the pills were prescribed to her and she said no. She stated she works as a nurse at the Polk County Jail and took the pills from the facility because they were scheduled to be destroyed. She admitted that she had no authority to remove the medication from the facility.

The deputy then arrested Montanez and charged her with the following:
• 2 Counts of Grand Theft of a Controlled Substance (F3)
• 2 Counts of Possession of a Drug without a Prescription (M2)
• Possession of Cannabis (M1)
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1) 
• DUI
Montanez is employed by Corizon Health and has been working as a registered nurse at the South County Jail in Frostproof. Corizon Health administration was contacted and advised it’s unacceptable for nurses to take the pills and the acceptable practice is to give the unused pills back to the pharmacy for disposal. 

“Ms. Montanez knew she was violating the law and continued to do so by stealing medication. Her actions are unacceptable and now instead of working in the jail, she was booked into the jail.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff