Polk County 911

911 call placed by Courtney Taylor Irby June 14 as she drove her van through Bartow after a confrontation with estranged husband Joseph Irby.

WARNING: Please be advised that parts of this call may be disturbing to some listeners.  Lorretta Pickard, 76, called 911 when she noticed her house, located at 13802 Rockridge Road in Lakeland, was on fire. She told dispatch that her husband, James, was at a ball game and she wasn't able to reach him by phone. Pickard spent the last 20 minutes of her life on the phone with dispatch as her home burned down around her. She begged for someone to come rescue her and was assured they would. But rescue never came.  Now, her family wants to know why nobody went inside the house to try to save her life. 

The 911 call made after the Polk County Sheriff’s Office says the driver of a pickup truck who struck and injured Larry Schlosser, of Winter Haven, Saturday while he was working on a roadside cleanup crew.

Officials say that within seconds of the deputy arriving on scene, 25-year-old Lindsay Collins suddenly appeared running toward the victim armed with a knife. 

An Uber driver shot a Winter Haven man to death early Tuesday morning, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. STORY: http://www.theledger.com/news/20180829/judd-uber-driver-shoots-kills-winter-haven-man-in-classic-stand-your-ground-case  Audio provided by Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Calls Shannon Short made to 911 about her son, Harley Don Hiatt Jr. [Audio provided / Polk County Sheriff's Office]

A Bartow man is dead in an apparent road rage incident that started on U.S. 98 and ended on the property of a closed pediatrics facility. Read more: http://www.theledger.com/news/20180706/pcso-bartow-man-impaled-in-fatal-us-98-road-rage-crash Audio provided by Polk County Sheriff's Office.

A mother wants to make CPR and first-aid training mandatory for school bus drivers and bus aides after her handicapped daughter died when her airway became blocked on board a bus.

Full story here: http://www.theledger.com/news/20180320/polk-sheriff-grady-judd-fatal-beating-of-lake-wales-boy-15-was-premeditated-jealousy-over-girl-motivated-suspect-16 Partial transcript, provided by Polk County Sheriff's Office: "1:09 - I texted him when he was supposed to be off school, and I texted him and texted him and I got no response so I started walking down the street and  stuff, and I saw him walking, and he brought me into the woods, and he  took my baseball bat and he tried to beat me. 1:43 - He tried  to attack me, and then me and him got into a fight but I had the baseball bat, and I don't know if he's dead cause I hit him so many times, man. 4:00 - (yelling to his dad) Dad! Dad help! Dad help. Dad help (to  the dispatcher) I'm gonna run and get my dad; (talking to his dad) Dad - help me, Gio tried to kill me and I think I killed him; I'm not playing dad, he attacked me in the woods. 4:56 - (talking to his dad)  He told me to come in the woods by myself with the baseball bat cause after we were done smoking we were going to get Zach and play baseball; then  he said he had to take a pee; then all of a sudden, he's behind me with  the baseball bat - he tried to get me and I grabbed it; all he did was punch me in the face but I hit him one time and said stop, and he's like, now you're gonna effin get it, and he came at me again, and I kept hittin' him and hittin' him. 5:44 - They're saying I'm gonna go to jail if he dies. The rest is a conversation between him and  others, during which he mentions TV shows he watches, and continues saying  he was attacked first. Then his father gets on the phone, and talks to  the dispatcher. Then the father talks to Dillen."

A former law enforcement officer is accused of drunken driving in a hit-and-run crash. Five middle school students who were walking home on the shoulder were struck — killing one and injuring the other four, including one severely.

Warning: This audio may be upsetting for some listeners.   A Lakeland man is in critical condition after suffering gunshot wounds to the chest after breaking down a front door, according to the Lakeland Police Department. READ MORE: http://www.theledger.com/news/20180128/lakeland-police-department-homeowner-shoots-19-year-old-man-in-chest-after-he-broke-into-home    

Winter Haven police are searching for two men they say attacked and robbed a woman who was playing with her toddler at Kiwanis Park early Thursday morning.   READ MORE: http://bit.ly/2DDpITJ

Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Travis Burton, 30, of Haines City, for kidnapping and sexual battery of a minor, which the PCSO says occurred Saturday in the Davenport area. READ MORE: http://www.theledger.com/news/20171205/haines-city-man-accused-of-raping-girl-16    

A 7-year-old girl is dead of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning after a portable generator was run inside a home that had lost power during Hurricane Irma.