An anonymous tip received by Heartland Crime Stoppers and relayed to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office led deputies to Austin Daniel Richardson, a Winter Haven man facing a plethora of charges, including attempted second-degree murder, according to the Polk Sheriff’s Office. When deputies arrived on the scene at a residence on Country Place SW early on December 13, they found 24-year-old Richardson, who upon their arrival instantly acknowledged his pursuers with a simple declaration: “I’m the one you’re looking for.”
Richardson is accused of perpetrating his alleged crimes on July 29 in a neighborhood around Thornhill Road and Spirit Lake Road, as detailed in the original crime report. He also has an outstanding warrant in Orange County for failing to appear in court for a DUI. Deputies arrested him without incident in the early hours of December 13, and he is currently being held at the Sheriff’s Processing Center on the existing warrant.
Aside from the attempted murder charge, Richardson is accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm in a residential area, and improper display of a firearm; these charges are part of a deeply troubling story that unfolded on a seemingly peaceful Polk County street this summer. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office issued the initial report on these events, making Richardson’s arrest public on December 13, two days before this writing.
With Richardson in jail, the community breathes a collective sigh of relief as justice appears to be served; the tipster’s identity is preserved, a pillar of Crime Stoppers’ operational ethos that encourages community members to offer information without fear of retaliation.
Leave a Comment