POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Two people are dead after a vehicle crashed into a home near Lakeland on Monday, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The crash occurred in the Secret Cove neighborhood off of Reynolds Road in Lakeland, the sheriff’s office announced on social media.
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While initial details about the crash were scarce, Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to discuss what exactly happened.
According to Judd, a white Mercedes had pulled into the neighborhood around 1:30 p.m.
“It was driven by a young Black male,” Judd explained. “Other young Black males came up to the vehicle, and they were talking. And all of a sudden, the white car raced off down Pirates Way, extremely fast.”
After speeding off, the vehicle then crashed into an apartment home, Judd added.
Upon arrival, first responders pulled the driver from the vehicle, finding that he’d suffered a gunshot wound in his chest, Judd stated.
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“And then it goes from a fatal vehicle crash to a murder investigation,” Judd declared. “During the same time frame, the people discover: there’s another deceased person underneath the car.”
Per Judd, investigators found out that the victim beneath the car had been riding an electric bicycle through the neighborhood, which is when the Mercedes fatally struck him, pushing his body into the home.
Furthermore, the bicyclist appeared to have no involvement in the shooting itself, as he had been heading to his brother’s home at the time of the crash, Judd said.
“The driver of the Mercedes had a famous quote from the Scarface movie — ‘The world is yours’ — tattooed on his chest," Judd continued. “He also had tattooed on one of his hands, ‘Life is a gamble.’”
Judd said that one of the people who had initially approached the Mercedes was determined to be responsible for fatally shooting the driver.
In addition, Judd said there were at least two gallon-sized bags filled with marijuana inside the Mercedes, as well as a “thick wad of cash.”
As such, Judd explained that investigators believe the driver had been in the neighborhood to sell marijuana.
“These other folks planned to rip him off, and we ended up with a shooting,” Judd posited.
Furthermore, Judd said that investigators managed to obtain video of the incident, and so the sheriff’s office is inviting anyone who was present at the scene of the shooting to come forward.
“You can be a suspect, or you can be a witness,” he said.
Judd also said that the other people seen in the video are “all young,” and some “appeared to be kids.”
No additional information has been provided at this time, including the identities of the victims or any potential suspects.