POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Two Wahneta men are behind bars following a Sunday game of hide-and-seek with law enforcement that went sideways.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies were searching a wooded area near Rifle Range Road and Bomber Road on Sunday, May 17th, looking for 39-year-old Kevin Lee Bragg, Jr., who was wanted on two active felony warrants.
At the edge of the woods, deputies crossed paths with 52-year-old Jerry Lee Smith and asked if he had seen the suspect. Smith told the deputies that Bragg had fled deeper into the woods.
The deputies started walking in that direction but stopped after a few steps to approach Smith again. It was then that they spotted Bragg hiding in deep grass right next to where Smith was standing. Investigators noted that Bragg was curled up in the fetal position in an attempt to avoid detection.
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When deputies questioned Smith about why he misdirected them, he explained that Bragg was his only friend and he did not want to see him go to jail.
Both men were taken into custody. Bragg was booked on his existing warrants for two counts of burglary and two counts of felony petit theft, and he faces new charges of resisting an officer without violence and violation of probation. Smith was charged with resisting without violence and providing false information to a law enforcement officer during a felony investigation.
Records show both individuals have lengthy prior arrest histories. Bragg’s past offenses include burglary, grand theft, petit theft, retail theft, drug possession, trespassing, disorderly conduct, contributing to the delinquency of a child, and domestic violence.
Smith’s prior record includes battery, domestic violence, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, petit theft, resisting without violence, and drug possession.
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