Over the weekend, Polk County law enforcement encountered a situation far from routine. A deputy sheriff, while patrolling Wahneta, initiated a traffic stop on a Pontiac G6 when he observed an expired registration tag. The driver, Jose Adorno Pabon, conveyed he didn't speak English and lacked a driver's license. Following this, events escalated as passenger Jhonnys Robles Pereira, a 37-year-old Venezuelan national, defied orders to remain in the vehicle and instead bolted towards, then struck the deputy, before attempting to flee the scene on foot.
Pereira's attempt to escape was quickly curtailed as the deputy employed his Taser and took the suspect into custody. According to information obtained by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, it was confirmed with ICE that Pereira is residing in the U.S. without legal documentation, a factor upgrading his charges. The driver, Pabon, a Puerto Rican, had sped away but was later apprehended by backup units and arrested for DUI.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office report detailed that Pereira is facing several charges including battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and without violence. An ICE hold has been placed on him at the Polk County Jail. Meanwhile, deputies report Pabon displayed signs of impairment and admitted to having consumed "five beers" prompting charges that ranged from DUI to fleeing to elude, and several misdemeanors related to the vehicle's paperwork.
In a statement released by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, he reflected on the incident, "They say there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop, and that nothing good happens after midnight. We're grateful that this traffic stop resulted in a drunk driver being taken off the road before killing someone, and that our deputy wasn't more seriously injured when the suspect who is here illegally slammed into him while fleeing."
