News and Investigations

On Tuesday, April 9, 2019, PCSO school resource deputies conducted “Operation Pop Top”— an ongoing effort to enforce laws related to the sale of alcohol to minors. Deputies send high school teenagers into stores to see if they can buy alcohol. The students are PCSO Explorers, which is a program designed for students who are interested in learning about law enforcement careers.

During the operation, 31-year-old Jonathan Rodrigues of Bartow, was the on-duty clerk at the Marathon convenience store located at 1660 South Lake Shipp Drive in Winter Haven. He sold an alcoholic beverage to our underage Explorer. Rodrigues was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Polk County Jail. He’s charged with selling alcohol to a person under 21.

The following stores were found to be in compliance with Florida beverage laws:

1. Circle K                                  1000 1st Street S, Winter Haven, FL
2. 7-Eleven                                  1099 1st Ave South, Winter Haven
3. WaWa                                     1490 3rd Street SW, Winter Haven, FL
4. Mobil                                      1200 3rd Street SW, Winter Haven, FL
5. RaceTrac                                 11023 US Hwy 17 N, Eagle Lake, FL
6. Chevron                                  558 N 5th Street, Eagle Lake, FL
7. Sunoco                                    1502 Recker Hwy, Winter Haven, FL
8. Superway                                2950 Recker Hwy, Winter Haven, FL
9. Holy Land Grocers                 329 26th Street SW, Winter Haven, FL
10. 7-Eleven #32788                    4000 Recker Hwy, Winter Haven, FL
11. Dels Go Shop                         90 Coleman Rd, Winter Haven, FL


“We are going to hold store employees accountable for selling alcohol to those under 21 years old. It’s their responsibility to check ID’s at all times. The stores and employees found in compliance did a great job following the law. We congratulate them.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff