Lakeland Gang Members Charged With 38 Car Burglaries, Gun Thefts

LAKELAND, FL — Six gang members who committed at least 38 car burglaries south of Lakeland to steal guns from cars for gun running have been arrested by detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The burglaries and thefts of seven firearms occurred over three nights in four south Lakeland neighborhoods: •

• March 11 in Reflections West (13 car burglaries)
• May 26 in Christina Oaks (11 car burglaries)
• May 28 in Highlands Crossing and Mission Hills (14 burglaries)

“These burglaries were committed by gang members with the sole purpose to steal guns," said Polk Sheriff Grady Judd. "They specifically targeted vehicles that were most likely to have firearms within them, often looking for window and bumper stickers with pro-gun messages. This is a very bad group of criminals who intended to steal guns to be used for even more crime.”

Many burglarized vehicles were locked, said Judd. The gang members smashed or punched the windows of the cars to get inside of them. Because they were focused on stealing guns, the gang members ransacked some vehicles without taking other valuables, he said.

So far, two of the seven stolen firearms have been recovered.

All six arrested are documented gang members and four of the six arrested have gang enhancement penalties on their charges.

The sheriff's office is not identifying the gang.

Arrested were:

Eldred Kellum Jr., 23, of Lakeland, was charged with directing activities of a criminal gang, two counts of armed robbery of a conveyance, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, four counts of felony petit theft, 18 counts of burglary of a conveyance, 12 counts of attempted burglary of a conveyance, two counts of grand theft of a firearm, two counts of grand theft, and 21 counts of criminal mischief. Kellum was charged with 63 crimes with a gang enhancement.

He and 17-year-old Kingston Pringle from Bartow coordinated the burglaries and carried out the Christina Oaks burglaries themselves, said Judd. Kellum’s criminal history includes burglary, theft, violation of parole, robbery, trespassing on school grounds, vehicle theft, dealing in stolen property, resisting an officer and criminal mischief.

Pringle, who is being prosecuted as an adult by the state attorney's office, was charged with directing activities of a criminal gang, two counts of armed burglary of a conveyance, possession of a machine gun, 19 counts of burglary of a conveyance, 12 counts of attempted burglary of a conveyance, three counts of grand theft, improper exhibition of a firearm, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, 24 counts of criminal mischief, two counts of possession of a firearm by a minor, three counts of culpable negligence expose to harm and four counts of petit theft. Gang enhancements were added to 75 charges.

Pringle has prior arrests for residential burglary, conveyance burglaries and grand theft.

During the investigation, detectives discovered a disturbing video on Pringle’s cell phone in which Pringle was pointing and mock-firing a Glock handgun at three children, one as young as 17 months old, said Judd during a news conference Friday. The Glock had been modified into an automatic firearm and had an extended magazine inserted. Pringle was using the laser site to point the gun directly at the children. Some of Pringle's charges stem from this video.

De’Andre Guilford, 22, of Bartow was charged by Bartow police with carrying a concealed firearm (a firearm that was stolen during one of the Polk sheriff's cases) and a warrant arrest for failure to appear in a driving without a license case. Guilford has previous arrests for carrying a concealed weapon, giving false information to a law enforcement officer and possession of marijuana.

Taurean Sumrall, 22, of Bartow was charged with directing activities of a criminal gang, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, grand theft, possession of MDMA, possession of fentanyl, possession of amphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license. Eight of the charges included a gang enhancement.

Sumrall’s primary role was to coordinate the sale of the stolen firearms, said Judd. Sumrall was previously arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, giving a false name to a law enforcement office, obstructing law enforcement, possession of a weapon, resisting law enforcement without violence, violation of probation and robbery.

Javien Sterling, 19, of Lakeland was charged with 11 counts of burglary of a conveyance, 10 counts of attempted burglary of a conveyance, two counts of grand theft of a firearm, grand theft, tampering with evidence, 14 counts of criminal mischief and two counts of petit theft. Forty of the charges include a gang enhancement.

Juddy said Sterling was recruited by Pringle to be the driver for the group during the burglaries at Highlands Crossing and Mission Hills.

Eric Denson, 18, of Riverview was the driver during the Reflections West burglaries, Judd said. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judd said that, while in the Polk County Jail, Denson was found with a shiv and charged with introduction of contraband to the jail.

He is also facing charges by the Lakeland Police Department for three counts of attempted first-degree murder and shooting into a dwelling.