Deputies forced their way into a home on Caloosa Boulevard in Lake Wales late Tuesday night after finding a bloody handprint on a car and blood smeared on the front door, ending a standoff in which four people inside did not respond to deputies at several doors. Rodney Michael, 55, Cheri Bennett, 50, Austin Michael, 30, and Dylan Michael, 29, were all arrested and now face charges of resisting an officer without violence.
The call came in around 11:30 p.m. on September 22, after a neighbor reported loud banging and screaming coming from the property, according to a report from the Tampa Free Press. When a Polk County Sheriff's Office deputy arrived, he heard yelling and banging coming from the yard, but the noise stopped the moment he announced himself at the front door. Deputies got no response at several doors.
Deputies reportedly spotted a bloody handprint on the trunk of a white car parked outside and found blood on the front door itself.
When Deputies May Enter a Home Without a Warrant
In general, under the emergency aid and exigent circumstances exceptions to the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement officers may force entry into a home without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable belief that someone inside is seriously injured or in imminent danger, according to Sanchez Vaughn.
Once inside, deputies found Rodney Michael, Dylan Michael, and Cheri Bennett in the home. A locked bathroom door had to be forced open as well, where deputies located Austin Michael. Dylan Michael had a visible cut on his hand, but no one else in the home showed any other injuries, the same report notes.
Household Denies a Physical Fight, Blames a Work Injury
All four occupants denied that the argument inside the home had ever turned physical. Dylan Michael told deputies he had cut his hand while working with fabricated steel. Two of the residents later said they heard deputies knocking outside but chose not to open the door because they did not want to get into trouble, per the same account.
All four were charged with resisting an officer without violence. To secure a conviction for resisting an officer without violence in Florida, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, among other things, that the defendant resisted, obstructed or opposed an officer, knew the person was an officer, and that the officer was legally authorized to execute process, according to Luke Newman, P.A. The charge does not hinge on whether any domestic violence actually took place inside the home.
A Misdemeanor That Stands on Its Own
Resisting an officer without violence is classified in Florida as a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of one year in county jail, one year of probation, and a $1,000 fine under Florida Statute § 843.02, according to Hanlon Law. As Zelman Law explains, resisting charges function as an independent criminal offense in Florida, meaning prosecutors can move forward even when underlying domestic dispute or battery allegations are never proven or filed.
Each of the four suspects has a history of prior arrests, according to the sheriff's office. All four were transported to the Polk County Sheriff's Office Processing Center on De Castro Road in Winter Haven for booking, a facility that books in and out an average of 50,000 people per year, per the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
A Lake Wales Neighborhood
The home sits on Caloosa Boulevard in a Lake Wales neighborhood, where Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies responded.
This is not the first time law enforcement has responded to a violent scene in that stretch of Lake Wales. In March 2018, deputies responded to a major crime scene along Caloosa Boulevard after a 15-year-old boy was beaten to death in a nearby wooded area, according to WFTV.
It remains unclear whether the blood found at the Caloosa Boulevard scene will connect to any additional events beyond Dylan Michael's stated hand injury. All four residents have already been charged with resisting an officer without violence.
