POLK COUNTY, Fla. – An assistant director at a Lakeland middle school was arrested over the weekend after deputies said she resisted during a traffic stop on Interstate 4.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy pulled over a gray Chevrolet Traverse on Saturday afternoon along westbound I-4 near Polk City.
Deputies identified the driver as 36-year-old Dominique Lasahy DeVeaux of Lakeland, the assistant head of school at Academy Prep of Lakeland, a not-for-profit private school.
According to the PCSO, DeVeaux was stopped for driving without a valid driver’s license.
Investigators said her license had been revoked in 2024 for five years after she was deemed a habitual traffic offender. The sheriff’s office also said her license has had additional suspensions in 2025 for failure to pay traffic citations, and that she has seven unpaid traffic citations in Orange County.
Deputies said DeVeaux was asked multiple times to exit the vehicle. When she got out and the deputy attempted to place her in handcuffs, deputies said she physically resisted and struck the deputy’s hand while trying to pull free.
A young child and the child’s father were also in the vehicle at the time of the stop, deputies said.
“Throwing a tantrum on the side of an interstate and physically striking a deputy is way out of line,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “It is especially unacceptable for someone who by profession is responsible for so many children.”
DeVeaux was taken into custody and now faces charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, driving while license suspended/revoked as a habitual offender, and resisting without violence.
News 6 reached out to Academy Prep Center of Lakeland for comment on the arrest. The school responded with the following statement:
“Ms. Deveaux was employed with us beginning June of 2025 last year. She began her role as Assistant Head of School June 2026 this year. As of this morning, she was terminated from this position and is no longer employed with Academy Prep Lakeland. I have no further comments at this time. ”
Head of School Monica Pollock, Academy Prep Center of Lakeland