TAVARES, Fla.—There’s a new pup strutting his stuff through Lake County, sniffing out electronics and working economic crimes, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Electric Detection K9 Code—pronounced “Cody” — a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, will be working alongside his handler, Investigator Dunn, in the Economic Crime Unit, specializing in cryptocurrency investigations, LCSO Public Information Officer Deputy Stephanie Earley said.
“With a strong background in criminal investigations, Investigator Dunn took on the unique role of working with K9 Code,” Earley said. “Together, Investigator Dunn and K9 Code completed an intensive certification process, spending hundreds of hours side by side.”
PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
At 18 months old, Code and Dunn participated in an intensive 5-month training program in Indiana, enduring long hours and no days off. During that training, Code mastered locating electronic devices, including cell phones, hard drives and SIM cards, essential evidence in a variety of offenses such as child pornography, fraud and financial crimes. Earning a perfect score during certification, Code successfully detected items underwater and in ceiling tiles. He is also trained to search vehicles, open fields, and even people, Earley said.
In his off time, Code enjoys relaxing with a blanket on the couch and playing with his favorite ball.
MINNEOLA, Fla.—It’s been one year since Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the call that claimed the life of Master Deputy Bradley Link and Saturday, a stretch of U.S. Highway 27 in Minneola was renamed in his honor.
The Minneola City Council adopted the resolution earlier this year that renamed the portion of the roadway between Division Street and County Road 561. Link’s parents, Daniel and Christi, accepted the resolution and were in attendance for the official renaming on Saturday, along with Link’s wife, Brittany, members of LCSO’s command staff and numerous deputies. Minneola Mayor Pat Kelley led the ceremony, which included an invocation by LCSO Chaplain Joshua Douglas, and remarks were given by LCSO Major Todd English, Pamela Jones of Congressman Daniel Webster’s office, and State Representative Taylor Yarkosky.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy Bradley Link’s parents, Christi and Daniel. Photo courtesy of Shannon Cook
On Aug. 2, 2024, deputies responded to an altercation in unincorporated Eustis and subsequent well-being check. Link and K9 Master Deputy Harold Howell, along with several other deputies, were performing the well-being check at the home Julie and Michael Sulpizio shared with their adult daughters, Savannah and Cheyenne Sulpizio, following a Baker Act of Julie Sulpizio. After finding two dead dogs in the yard and a window with a broken screen, Link made multiple unanswered announcements over his PA system, at the home located at 38144 Brookside Drive. Link, Howell and three other deputies attempted to enter the Sulpizio home shortly after 9 p.m. They entered through the rear door near the driveway that opened to a small laundry room and into a hallway that goes left and right.
Link approached the hallway and announced he was going left and indicated Howell should go right. As Link walked into the hallway, his bodycam picked up several frames of what appeared to be a male wearing a black shirt or body armor, with a rifle, positioned on the arm of a couch, ready to ambush deputies. Link did not see the man because he was looking left down the hallway, and the bodycam was facing forward, Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said last year.
Link entered the hallway and the suspect, believed to be Michael Sulpizio, opened fire, shooting Link in the back several times, and Howell was shot in the arm. Howell and the other deputies were forced to retreat out of the residence and Link was immobilized, suffering multiple gunshot wounds. He attempted to crawl on his back to cover but was unsuccessful. Link emptied his duty weapon of all rounds, Grinnell said, and moved his hand in what appeared to be an attempt to answer his radio as his ID number was called out but was also unsuccessful. He was shot several more times.
Link’s bodycam continued to record audio and video and was pointed toward the ceiling, and at 9:24 p.m., a female yelled, “My king kill all of you. You are Lucifer’s children,” in response to deputies asking for Link’s release.
Two minutes later, the Street Crimes team, comprised of Deputy Stefano Gargano, Deputy Corey LaBrecque, Deputy Matthew Green and Cpl. Tyler Palmer, entered the home, with Gargano in the lead using a ballistic shield as cover. It was later revealed Gargano insisted he go first because he was the only member of the team who did not have children. As he approached the threshold of the hallway, Gargano was shot through the wall multiple times by high-caliber rounds, causing him to become incapacitated. The team returned fire and extracted Gargano. LaBrecque immediately began assessing and treating Gargano’s injuries and accompanied Gargano in the ambulance as he was transported to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital as a trauma alert.
Top: Deputy Stefano Gargano; Deputy Corey LaBrecque Bottom: Deputy Matthew Green; Cpl. Tyler Palmer PHOTOS: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Just after 11 p.m. deputies heard two rapid gunshots and a third shot a few minutes later and LCSO’s SWAT Team ripped a wall off the residence and extracted Link. He was rushed to a waiting ambulance for transport to a landing zone so he could be flown out for treatment. While en route, the decision was made to transport him to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he was ultimately pronounced deceased.
As the SWAT Team cleared the home, they found two deceased females, identified as Savannah and Cheyenne Sulpizio, on the couch, dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. Michael Sulpizio was found on the couch with a gunshot wound and a faint pulse. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.
A search of the home revealed a stockpile of 20 firearms placed strategically around the home. Ammunition, food and water, medical bags and bugout bags, in addition to anti-government propaganda were also found. No illegal drugs were found in the home. Accused of the plotting the crimes, Julie Sulpizio was later arrested for a multitude of charges. She’s been found incompetent to stand trial twice and was involuntarily committed to the Department of Children and Families in late May.
If found competent at a later date, she is facing charges of principal to first degree murder of a law enforcement officer, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, three counts of principal to attempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer, three counts of battery and one count of battery on a law enforcement officer
Gargano returned to light duty in May and Howell continues to recover from his injuries.
CLERMONT, Fla.—A Mobile, Ala. man was killed on Florida’s Turnpike Thursday night after he rear-ended a semi, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The 22-year-old man was traveling southbound in a 2025 Hyundai Elantra around 10:15 p.m. when a 2017 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer in front of him slowed for traffic around mile marker 279 near Clermont. The Alabama man failed to slow down and rear-ended the semi. He was pronounced deceased on scene; his passenger, a 23-year-old woman, also of Mobile, was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center with serious injuries.
The driver of the semi, a 45-year-old Naples man, was not injured. The crash remains under investigation.
TAVARES, Fla.—The 911 system across Central Florida is down and residents are urged to use text to 911 to report an emergency.
All emergency and non-emergency phone lines are down, officials said. Cell phone and landline calls were intermittent at press time and dispatchers are monitoring calls and attempting to return dropped or missed calls.
MINNEOLA, Fla.—The Florida Highway Patrol is looking for the driver of a Chevy Tahoe that killed a motorcyclist late Saturday night and fled the scene, FHP said Sunday morning.
Just before 10:45 p.m., a 36-year Leesburg woman on a 2009 Yamaha motorcycle was stopped at the traffic light in the inside lane at U.S. Highway 27 and Citrus Grove Road and a 2024 Honda HR-V, was southbound approaching the light, according to FHP. The light turned green, and the motorcycle started to proceed forward and the Honda swerved into the outside lane to avoid the motorcycle. A 2001 Chevy Tahoe traveling behind the Honda failed to see the motorcycle and collided with it; the impact then caused the front right of the Chevy to strike the rear left of the Honda.
The Chevy fled the area and was later found abandoned in the median of U.S. Highway 27, approximately three miles north of the crash scene.
The Leesburg woman was transported to South Lake Hospital and pronounced deceased; the driver of the Honda, a 42-year-old woman, and her passengers, a 47-year-old male and a 6-year-old boy, all of Polk City, were not injured, FHP said.
If you have information on the crash, or the driver of the Chevy, call *FHP on your cell phone, or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
TAVARES, Fla.—For the sixth year running, public safety and its supporters will join forces for the annual Lake County Back the Blue & Red Walk.
Scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at Wooton Park in Tavares, this is one of many law enforcement-related events around Lake County held in May during Law Enforcement Appreciation Month and last year, Organizer Shannon Cook added firefighters to the appreciation walk.
The walk began in 2019 to show support for law enforcement during a time when the “defund the police” movement was making its way across the country, Cook said, representatives from several law enforcement agencies and numerous public officials are expected to be in attendance.
“The good ones needed to know they were appreciated,” Cook said in an earlier interview, and this year the walk is especially important to Cook for several reasons – remembering Lake County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy Bradley Link who was killed in an ambush attack in August 2024, and honoring Master Deputy Harold Howell and Deputy Stefano Gargano who were shot in the same attack. This year also marks 20 years since Deputy Wayne Koester was killed in a separate ambush attack 20 years ago.
PHOTOS: Bonnie Whicher/Inside Lake
Koester was Cook’s close friend, and was killed in the line of duty Feb. 9, 2005. Koester, who was 33 at the time, and two other deputies were ambushed while responding to a domestic violence call. All three deputies were shot, and Koester succumbed to his injuries; the other two deputies recovered. Jason Wheeler was shot and paralyzed during his capture and convicted in Koester’s death. Cook was also close to Chris Daniels, who was serving as Lake County Sheriff when he was tragically killed in a charity bus race in 2006, on his birthday.
Participants will meet at 9 a.m. at Wooton Park, 100 East Ruby Street, Tavares. The first stop will be the Lake County Administration Building, then a stop at the Tavares Public Safety Complex and the walk will end at Kalua Beach Bar with lunch, provided by owner Randy Connor; come a little early to enjoy donuts and coffee.
Shirts, provided by every year by Turf Tech Professional Lawn Maintenance, will be for sale for $10 each at the walk. The money will be used for Lake County Back the Blue & Red’s quest to become a non-profit organization.
MINNEOLA, Fla.—Two schools are on lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” as Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies are attempting to take a subject into custody on a warrant at a home in Minneola, according to LCSO.
Lake Minneola High School and Grassy Lake Elementary are currently on lockdown due to their proximity to the incident location off of Hancock Road, LCSO said. No other information was released.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is holding a series of virtual public meetings to collect feedback directly from Florida residents on proposals for highly-regulated black bear hunting in Florida that will be presented to commissioners at FWC’s May meeting. The content covered in all meetings is identical, and it is not necessary to attend more than one virtual public meeting.
At the Dec. 2024 commission meeting, the FWC’s Bear Management Program gave commissioners a five-year update on implementing the 2019 Florida Black Bear Management Plan, highlighting recent bear management and research efforts. Following the presentation, the Commissioners directed staff to return to a future Commission meeting to propose options for implementing a potential bear hunt.
MINNEOLA, Fla.—The Minneola City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday, designating a portion of U.S. Highway 27 to be renamed in Lake County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy Bradley Link’s honor.
The stretch of roadway, from Division Street to County Road 561, will be renamed the “Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link Memorial Highway.” Link’s parents accepted the resolution, and once the final bill is approved in Tallahassee, the official change will be made.
Link was killed Aug. 3, 2024 when LCSO responded to an altercation and then performed a well-being check in unincorporated Eustis. During the well-being check, Link was shot and suffered fatal wounds. In an immediate rescue attempt of Link, K9 Master Deputy Harold Howell was shot in the wrist and in a subsequent rescue attempt, Deputy Stefano Gargano was shot multiple times. Howell and Gargano are still recovering from their injuries and have not returned to duty.
EUSTIS, Fla.—A cold weather shelter and warming station are scheduled to open this week in anticipation of colder temperatures, officials with Lake County government announced late Monday morning.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, lows in Lake County are expected to be between 33 and 38 degrees between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The cold weather shelter is scheduled to be open from 5 p.m. to 7.a.m. Monday through Friday at LifePointe Church, 2551 East Orange Avenue, Eustis; and the Salvation Army will open a warming station from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 2605 South Street, Leesburg. Residents who need transportation to the shelter or the warming station can call Lake County Connection at 352-742-2612 to make arrangements.
Graphic: U.S. National Weather Service
To sign up for cold weather text updates from Lake County government, text COLD to 888-777. Faith-based and nonprofit organizations that would like to provide sheltering assistance are asked to call Lake County Emergency Management at 352-343-9420.
