In the early morning hours of November 1, 2024, Polk County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Northwest District in northern Lakeland solved a string of car burglaries, recovered three stolen firearms, arrested the teenage suspect, and then arrested the teenager’s stepfather. He decided to fight them physically.

The car theft trend started in the Hamlet Circle area in mid-September 2024. A wallet was stolen from a parked vehicle at night. A month later, two firearms were stolen from another personal vehicle in the same area. Video surveillance of the October burglary showed a suspect wearing gloves, a face mask and long sleeves, twisting door handles and attempting to break car windows.

At midday on October 31, 2024, deputies responded to Hamlet Circle in response to a suspect matching the same description attempting to enter vehicles and being intimidated by a resident. The resident confronted the suspect, who grabbed his waist and said he “had something of his own,” explaining that if he approached, it was a firearm. Fearing for his life, the witness retreated and called 911. During this time, the rear window of a vehicle was broken.

Deputies flooded the area and investigated the neighborhood. Several home surveillance videos were reviewed that showed the suspect’s route including the Porch Court area. While deputies were still canvassing the area, they observed an unknown black male juvenile matching the description walking between Porch Court and Hamlet Circle. When they called out to him, he started running and they ran after him.

They captured the fleeing suspect on Britt Road and he was identified as 17-year-old Ronetae Degraffenreid, who lived with her mother and stepfather at 8314 Porch Court. The family recently moved to Polk County from North Carolina.

Ronetae’s parents were initially cooperative when talking to deputies about their son’s activities, until another victim approached and told deputies that his car keys, work identification card and office keys were missing. On it was a video showing Ronetae. He said his car was parked in his garage when he got home.

Ronetae’s parents then decided not to cooperate and attempted to return to their secured home in an attempt to obtain a search warrant. Ronetae’s stepfather, Anthony Pettiford, 37, raised his fists and assumed a fighting stance as he approached a PCSO Sergeant. A detective intervened, at which point Pettiford grabbed the detective and threw him aside. Pettiford was taken to the location and Tasers were deployed, where he continued to actively fight off deputies. He was taken into custody and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and resisting arrest without violence.

Pettiford told deputies he was from New York and then from North Carolina, and that the family moved here from North Carolina about a month and a half ago (note; the first burglary occurred on September 16). His criminal history, from four different states, includes charges such as armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a firearm as a minor, burglary of an occupied dwelling, burglary, fleeing to elude, and DWLSR.

During the execution of the search warrant, deputies located the following stolen items in Ronetae’s room:

• The keys of the victim who reported that his car had been broken into while interviewing the suspect at the scene;
• a debit card stolen from the Hamlet Circle area in mid-September;
• A Glock 23 that had been illegally modified to become an automatic machine gun, loaded and with one round in the chamber; entered the system as stolen from Lake County; hidden in the air handling unit;
• A Smith & Wesson .38 special, loaded and with a bullet in the cylinder; stolen from Hamlet Circle in mid-October; hidden in the air handling unit;
• A 9 mm handgun, loaded and with a bullet in the chamber; stolen from Hamlet Circle in mid-October; hidden in the air handling unit;
• Venlafaxine and Clonazepam pills, which are prescription pills and are illegal to obtain without a prescription; also Clonazepam is a schedule 4 narcotic;
• Three large containers of nitrous oxide; a witness told deputies that Ronetae told another teen he had “whips” that were known to abuse nitrous oxide;
• Balaclava, gloves, backpack (all seen in the videos) and a window punch.

Ronetae was charged with:

• Armed robbery (F1)
• Unarmed robbery (F2)
• Possession of a machine gun (F2)
• 2 counts of Grand theft of firearms (F3)
• 3 counts Burglary attempt (F3)
• Possession of controlled substance (F3)
• Petty theft (M2)
• Possession of volatile substances (M2)
• Possession of drugs without prescription (M2)
• Simple attack (M2)
• Resisting arrest (M1)
• Illegal possession of personal identification (M1)
• Possession of firearms by persons under the age of 18 (E1)
• Possession of drug materials (M1)

“This family learned the hard way that we shouldn’t play games in Polk County when it comes to keeping our residents safe. I can’t even understand why this young man had so many loaded and dangerous firearms in his room. And what a great example his stepdad sets. They both fooled around and learned. We welcome anyone who wants to move to our county, which is a wonderful and safe place to live, but we have this message: If you come here to commit a crime, we will put you in jail without hesitation. – Grady Judd, Sheriff

“Oh, you can’t make up for it; This family has a doormat on their front door that says ‘come back with permission’. Now that it’s caught our and everyone else’s attention, they might consider redecorating. – Grady Judd, Sheriff