POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Lakeland business owner has been charged with threatening to shoot Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
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53-year-old Cormal Wike Jr., the president of petroleum distributor Fleetwing Corp., threatened to shoot Sheriff Judd after being arrested for domestic violence on March 14.
While being transported to the Polk County Jail, Wike told a deputy he personally knew Judd and not only went hunting with him regularly, but also donated all the gas to his annual Jeepin' with Judd charity event, according to an arrest report.
The report goes on to say that Wike said, "the next time Grady and I are in the stands, I'm going to shoot him."
After placing Wike into a holding cell, the deputy asked him about his statement.
"No, you misunderstood it," Wike told the deputy. "He's a great guy, I wouldn't shoot him. We are buddies."
Later, a different deputy questioned Wike about whether he remembered making the statement. Wike told the deputy he had alcohol in him, but even drunk he "would have a hard time believing he had made such statements."
“He admitted he had been angry because he had been placed in handcuffs and had been placed in the backseat of a patrol car,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report.
The deputy added that Wike stated he "respects Sheriff Judd" and denied ever hunting with him.
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According to the arrest report, Mike was initially arrested after he threw a lamp at his wife, causing a cut to her inner right arm, during an argument over his daughter dating an African American man.
Wike was charged with threat of death to a public official and domestic aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
