Authorities say a 20-year-old Winter Haven man turned his last night into a low-speed crime spree when he allegedly cut off his juvenile-probation ankle monitor, swiped a golf cart from a local business and tried to outrun officers through a wooded area. Police identified the suspect as Jer'Marius Julian and said Winter Haven and Lake Wales officers eventually found him tangled up in thick brush, where they arrested him on multiple felony counts tied to the incident.
According to FOX 13, officers were first alerted around 6:41 p.m. when the Department of Juvenile Justice reported Julian’s electronic monitor pinging near 11th St. NE and Country Lane NE. Police later found the monitoring device discarded in a nearby wood line. FOX 13 reports that detectives then went to an address on Avenue S NE and spoke with Julian’s mother, who told investigators he had left the house midmorning and failed to return for a 6 p.m. curfew. The station adds that a theft call shortly after 9:40 p.m. sent officers to a business on Dundee Road, where witnesses said they saw a golf cart “beeping” as it rolled away toward Highway 27.
Arrest and charges
Polk County booking records list Julian as being held at the Polk County Sheriff's Processing Center and show charges that include grand theft of a motor vehicle, tampering with an electronic monitoring device and violation of juvenile probation, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Publicly available records did not list a court date or indicate whether Julian has hired an attorney. Prosecutors will determine whether to formally file any additional charges as the case moves toward arraignment.
How officers say the pursuit unfolded
Officers said a golf cart matching the reported description later turned up on Cypress Gardens Boulevard near Highway 27. According to FOX 13, the driver, identified by police as Julian, steered the cart into a wooded area, jumped off and took off on foot. Winter Haven and Lake Wales officers followed him through the trees and eventually took him into custody without any further reported incident. Authorities said they recovered the discarded monitoring device near the original ping location.
Why monitoring alerts matter
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice runs a statewide electronic-monitoring program that sends GPS and tamper alerts to supervising agencies and contract monitoring vendors, which is how officials say they were tipped off in this case. State DJJ documents note that the department relies on a contracted monitoring service and a central operating structure to manage electronic-monitoring operations, according to the Florida DJJ.
Public booking records do not list a court date for Julian at this time, and officials have not released details about the original offense that placed him on juvenile supervision. Information in this report comes from law enforcement statements, public booking records and local media coverage.
