(This article was revised to include more information from the State Attorney’s Office.)
Polk County Sheriff’s deputies fatally shot a man in the parking lot of a Lakeland shopping center the morning of Aug. 3.
The incident occurred after an automated license plate reader detected the vehicle of Larry Renaldo Riles in the area of Wabash Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference held hours later.
The reader determined that Riles faced an outstanding warrant for violation of probation, Judd said. Riles had noticed Polk Sheriff’s Office vehicles and entered the parking lot of a shopping center at George Jenkins Boulevard and Wabash Avenue, backing into a space in front of a Subway restaurant to conceal his license plate, Judd said.
Four deputies found Riles’ parked vehicle and used their vehicles to block his path, Judd said. The deputies got out and approached Riles’ car, which had heavily tinted windows.
The deputies repeatedly ordered Riles to leave his vehicle, but he refused, Judd said. His car then began rolling forward, and deputies broke the windshield, as they continued calling for Riles to leave the vehicle.
Deputies attempted to shoot Riles with a Taser device, but it failed, Judd said. After ramming a patrol vehicle, Riles reached into the backseat of his car and grabbed a semiautomatic handgun and began to load a round into it. Judd said.
“As he started to rack a round into the firearm to engage our deputies, we shot him,” Judd said. “We shot him a lot. As soon as he was neutralized and he dropped the gun, we pulled him from the vehicle and started life-saving measures.”
Three of the four deputies on the scene fired at Riles, Judd said. Riles, 46, was soon pronounced dead.
Relatives told the Sheriff’s Office that Riles worked as an Uber driver, and an Uber sign was visible through his windshield, Judd said. The company had not yet confirmed that Riles was a driver and likely will not without a subpoena, Judd said.
All shootings involving deputies result in automatic reviews by the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit.
Riles has a history of arrests in Polk and Hillsborough counties, Judd said. He was arrested “years ago” in Hillsborough on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and “they allowed him to plead to a misdemeanor,” Judd said.
Court records show that case occurred in 2007.
Riles was later arrested in Polk County on a charge of felony grand theft in Polk County, and again he accepted a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, Judd said.
An affidavit provided by the State Attorney’s Office shows that Riles was arrested for allegedly taking $1,300 from another man on the promise of renting him a room in a house from which Riles had been evicted.
While on probation for that case, Riles apparently tested positive for drugs and served more than one month in jail before continuing his probation sentence, Assistant State Attorney Jacob Orr said.
When Riles’ probation officer demanded a drug test during a subsequent meeting in early June, Riles “ran from the test,” earning his latest violation of probation charge, Judd said.
The gun found in Riles’ vehicle, believed to be 9mm handgun, was reported stolen in Lakeland on June 24, Judd said.
“He could have given up when we blocked his vehicle in,” Judd said. “He knew he was blocked in. He could have given up when he started rolling forward and we broke the window out. He chose to ram the vehicle. He could have given up after all of that, but what did he choose to do? He chose to get his firearm and rack it for a gunfight, and we beat him to the draw, and that’s on him.”
Judd said that Riles’ next of kin had been notified of his death. The sheriff said that he would like to share the names of the deputies involved, but a new Florida law prevents that release for 72 hours after a shooting.
Judd used the occasion to defend the use of mounted license plate readers, which have become increasingly common in Florida. The devices, usually made by the company Flock, have drawn condemnation from Floridians who consider them an invasion of privacy.
Judd dismissed those claims and said the devices do the same work as deputies who manually check license plate numbers, only with much greater efficiency.
“This license plate reader on the side of the road in a public space, only looking at tag numbers and colors of vehicles, potentially stopped you from getting in an Uber with a guy with a stolen firearm and on probation,” Judd said. “I don’t think that’s a bad deal.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk sheriff’s deputies fatally shoot man holding gun, Judd says
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gary White, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
