WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WFLA) – A former Polk County Deputy Sheriff was arrested on Wednesday for multiple charges after showing up to her ex-boyfriend’s home and threatening to arrest his girlfriend back in December.
According to the sheriff’s office, Silvia Lara, 26, was hired a Deputy Sheriff in Nov. 2015.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lara went to her the home of her ex-boyfriend, identified as Reynaldo Cruz, in the Wahneta area of Winter Haven unannounced on Tuesday.
Cruz told deputies he asked Lara to leave several times.
Cruz said at one point she reached through the doorway and grabbed his arm, scratching him and leaving a mark.
The sheriff’s office said Lara was not on duty at the time.
During the investigation, deputies learned that on Sunday, Cruz and his girlfriend were at Winter Haven Hospital for an unrelated incident.
Lara was dispatched to the hospital after a crash and saw Cruz and his girlfriend’s cars in the parking lot.
Lara allegedly began to call and text Cruz multiple times.
When Cruz stopped answering, Lara called the hospital room’s phone and argued with Cruz’s girlfriend.
Deputies also learned that in December, Lara responded to Cruz’s home while on duty, saying someone had called 911.
Cruz and his family told her there was no emergency, but Lara parked her patrol car at the end of the street and waited.
Cruz’s girlfriend told detectives that Lara approached her when she walked outside.
The girlfriend said Lara told her she would arrest her for trespassing if she didn’t leave.
Lara was arrested on Wednesday and charges with misuse of official position for responding to a false call for service, aggravated stalking, misuse of DAVID for accessing the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle database to view the victim’s license and personal information and burglary with a battery.
She has been booked into the Polk County Jail and is being hold on no bond until a first appearance hearing on Thursday.
Lara resigned effective immediately after her arrest. The sheriff’s office said had she not resigned, she would have been terminated.
