{"id":54666,"date":"2025-03-21T14:28:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T18:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=54666"},"modified":"2025-03-21T14:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T18:29:13","slug":"cranker-colony-busted-11-arrested-amid-burglary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/03\/21\/cranker-colony-busted-11-arrested-amid-burglary\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Cranker colony\u2019 busted 11 arrested amid burglary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd\u00a0says 11 \u2018ne\u2019er-do-wells and crankers\u2019 have been arrested during an investigation at a vacant active-duty Air Force member\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Sunday, March 16, 2025, a 38-year-old man, who is serving in the U.S. Air Force and stationed in North Dakota, called the\u00a0Polk County\u00a0Sheriff\u2019s Office after he noticed an alarming spike in his electricity bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He requested a check on his property in south Lakeland and when deputies arrived, they said they found Brindy Matos living in a shed on the property, and a meter box that had been tampered with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to PCSO, Matos had several of the victim’s things from his main house inside the shed with her, along with her own drugs and paraphernalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputies say Matos\u2019 boyfriend, Anthony Maddox, Jr., ran away when they arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He ran,” Judd said. “He\u2019s run before. He has warrants from another county. His girlfriend couldn\u2019t run so fast. She was seven months pregnant. He ran off and left his girlfriend, who is seven months pregnant with his child.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When deputies searched the property, which was secured with a fence and a locked gate, they said they found that the house and all the other locked buildings on the property had been broken into and the victim’s John Deere riding lawn mower and golf cart had been stolen. The victim’s mother moved to North Dakota with him so that he could help care for her, and her 2007 black Toyota Cruiser was also missing from the Lakeland home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They didn\u2019t just break into the house, they devastated the house,” Judd explained. “They gutted the house. They took everything out of the house. Then, they were stealing electricity while they were living in a shed adjacent to the house.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While investigating, detectives said they also went to a nearby property with numerous environmental and health hazards, such as solid waste and household trash strewn about, scrap metal, leaking oil barrels, and raw sewage leaking from three different motorhomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputies detained five people and charged them with environmental crimes. Several suspects, according to PCSO, had various drugs and paraphernalia in their possession. Detectives said they were all living in the motorhomes or sheds on the property. With the help of a K-9 team, deputies said they found Maddox hiding on the property in a garage behind some shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had an active warrant from\u00a0Hernando County<\/u>, and he was also taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to PCSO, several of the suspects at this location were involved in the theft and subsequent selling of vehicles and household items belonging to the Air Force active duty member, including his mom’s car, his lawn mower and golf cart, kids’ toys, appliances, dishes, and a wooden bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One piece at a time, they stripped everything out of the house,” Judd said. “Oh, in the \u2018cranker colony,\u2019 we saw a lot of the different things that were originally in the victim\u2019s house. Some of it, as you can imagine, may have been stolen to raise money to buy more meth.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victim returned to Polk County to help detectives identify and reclaim his stolen property. So far, they’ve recovered more than $50,000 worth of stolen items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The scope and brazenness of this theft and denigration of private property is terrible\u2014these ne\u2019er-do-wells and crankers took advantage of an active-duty Air Force member serving our country 2,000 miles away,” Judd shared. “He left his private property in Lakeland locked and secured, and moved his mother to be with him so he could take care of her. Nobody has a right to go onto another\u2019s property to steal electricity and personal property. These people are a bunch of sorry folks\u2014destroying people’s property with no care for how their lawlessness affects others.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation is ongoing, and detectives are still looking for the Toyota Cruiser, the John Deere, and the golf cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 suspects arrested<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindy Matos <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n