{"id":64160,"date":"2026-03-26T21:48:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=64160"},"modified":"2026-03-26T21:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:52:28","slug":"how-a-candidate-for-polk-county-sheriff-wound-up-behind-bars-theodore-pink-tie-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/26\/how-a-candidate-for-polk-county-sheriff-wound-up-behind-bars-theodore-pink-tie-murray\/","title":{"rendered":"How a candidate for Polk County sheriff wound up behind bars Theodore \u201cPink Tie\u201d Murray\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"876175\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #876175;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/download-8-1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-64161 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/download-8-1.webp 225w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/download-8-1-150x150.webp 150w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Theodore \u201cPink Tie\u201d Murray\u2019s journey from a Frostproof contractor to a candidate for Polk County Sheriff is marked by a complex and often bizarre criminal history. His nickname stems from his signature attire during public appearances and campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is a breakdown of how Murray ended up behind bars on several occasions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Recent Arrests and Incarceration (2022\u20132023)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Murray\u2019s most significant recent legal issues occurred while he was campaigning for a U.S. House seat in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Apalachicola Incident (2022):<\/strong> Murray was arrested after a chaotic encounter with law enforcement. Deputies alleged he nearly rammed a stolen truck into a patrol car. He was charged with <strong>reckless driving<\/strong>, <strong>battery on a law enforcement officer<\/strong>, and <strong>resisting arrest without violence<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mental Competency:<\/strong> During his arrest, Murray made claims about being \u201cguided by colors\u201d and stated a reincarnated horsefly had bitten him. A judge subsequently found him <strong>mentally incompetent to stand trial<\/strong>, and he was sent to a mental health treatment facility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jail Sentence (2023):<\/strong> After being deemed fit for trial, he was found guilty in July 2023 of reckless driving and resisting an officer. He was sentenced to <strong>one year and 22 days<\/strong> in the county jail, which he served shortly before launching his 2024 run for Polk County Sheriff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Past Criminal History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Murray\u2019s legal troubles in Polk County date back over two decades:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Video Voyeurism (2003):<\/strong> While serving as a football coach at Fort Meade High School, Murray was arrested for secretly videotaping a 15-year-old student in a shower. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of video voyeurism and served one year of probation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">+1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Domestic Violence (2011):<\/strong> He was arrested on a domestic violence charge involving a partner, though the State Attorney\u2019s Office eventually dropped the case.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The 2024 Sheriff Campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite this record, Murray ran as a non-party affiliate against the long-term incumbent, Sheriff Grady Judd, in the November 2024 election. Murray framed his candidacy around his personal experiences with the justice system, advocating for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Body cameras<\/strong> and dashcams for all deputies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A philosophy of <strong>&#8220;educate rather than incarcerate.&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased accountability for law enforcement officers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Murray ultimately lost the election to Grady Judd, who secured his sixth term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five months after badly losing that election, Murray became an inmate in the Polk County Jail, the facility overseen by Judd. Though originally brought to Polk from Leon County for a misdemeanor charge, one directly related to his campaign for sheriff, Murray has remained in Polk County Jail ever since and now faces additional charges, one of them a felony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theodore \u201cPink Tie\u201d Murray\u2019s journey from a Frostproof contractor to a candidate for Polk County Sheriff is marked by a complex and often bizarre criminal history. His nickname stems from&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDNcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTgtMS53ZWJwP2ZpdD0yMjUlMkMyMjUmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJIb3cgYSBjYW5kaWRhdGUgZm9yIFBvbGsgQ291bnR5IHNoZXJpZmYgd291bmQgdXAgYmVoaW5kIGJhcnMgVGhlb2RvcmUgXHUyMDFjUGluayBUaWVcdTIwMWQgTXVycmF5XHUwMGEwIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.LO6fE_8274nd5gmmQ2Icjl-Wizq7V5e4JCDkAIm9HeMMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14213],"class_list":["post-64160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-how-a-candidate-for-polk-county-sheriff-wound-up-behind-bars-theodore-pink-tie-murray"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64160"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64164,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64160\/revisions\/64164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}