Man With Assault Rifle Shot After Trying To Set Fire To Club: Sheriff

LAKELAND, FL — A 30-year-old Lakeland man was wounded by Polk County deputies after being accused of throwing Molotov cocktails onto the roof of a home, fleeing from deputies and then getting out of pickup truck with an assault-style rifle.

Polk County sheriff's Steven Hearth responded to a 911 call Sunday at 8:11 a.m. in the Plantation Ridge neighborhood in north Lakeland after someone threw incendiary devices onto the roof of a home with parents and their adult daughter inside.

Hearth arrived on the scene in less than two minutes and saw a man throw one of seven Molotov cocktails at the home and then get into an older-model Chevrolet pickup truck. Two of the incendiary devices exploded on the roof and the others rolled into the yard and caught fire, according to Hearth.

Hearth attempted a traffic stop but the pickup truck fled south on U.S. 98. The deputy then attempted a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver at U.S. 98 and Florida Avenue to stop the truck but it continued to speed away. Hearth tried a second PIT maneuver, breaking his wrist in the process. The truck proceeded west on Interstate 4 with deputies in pursuit, a sheriff's news release said.

At the westbound on-ramp to I-4 from Branch Forbes Road in Hillsborough County, the fleeing truck slowed because of damage from the PIT maneuver, allowing deputies to block and ram the truck, according to the sheriff's office.

Luke Neely got out of the pickup truck and tried to run away. Polk Sheriff Deputy Grady Judd said he was carrying an AR-15-style rifle fully loaded with 57 rounds of ammunition and had a 380-caliber handgun on his hip.

A Polk sheriff's lieutenant fired at Neely one time and a deputy fired four times, hitting Neely twice in the leg and once in the groin, Judd said.

The sheriff's office said deputies then disarmed Neely, confiscating the weapons, and began treating his wounds.

He was taken to the hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds that are not life-threatening, the sheriff's office said.

Judd said the Polk sheriff's office later learned that Neely's crime spree actually began in Tampa during the early-morning hours of Sunday when Judd said Neely attempted to set a tree on fire at 16th Avenue and 6th Street in Ybor City. He then proceeded to The Ritz Ybor at 1503 E 7th Ave., at 2:41 a.m., where a surveillance video shows he tried to set the rear of the building and succeeded in setting the air conditioner on fire.

"Let me underscore. It's reported to me there were 1,000 people in the building at that time," Judd said. "Did you here what I said?"

Judd said he fled from there and, at 3:33 a.m., arrived back at 6th Street and 19th Street where tried to set a fence and tree on fire. He then proceeded to Gaspar's Grotto at 1805 E 7th Street where he where he set a trash fire at 4:15 a.m.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the deputy-involved use of force because the incident occurred in Hillsborough County. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office crime scene unit is assisting with the investigation, according to the release.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating the arson and fleeing to elude incidents occurring in Polk County. It's unclear why Neely targeted the family's home with incendiary devices but Judd said Neely attended high school with the adult daughter. They had not dated. In fact, the last time she'd seen him was in 2016 when a group of friends decided to go to California together.

"They were in California and he got really, really weird, and she called her parents to get money to change plane tickets. She said, 'I've got to get away from this guy,'" Judd said. "He has not actively stalked her. We'd call it more passively engaging in stalking but, when she said 'Get away,' then he would get away."

Judd did not that the woman works in Ybor City, which could be the reason Neely tried to set fires there, although Neely hasn't answered questions.

"We are blessed that everything turned out the way it did," Judd said during a news conference Sunday night with Hillsborough County State Attorney Susie Lopez. "I think It certainly could have been a lot worse. We thank the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for independently investigating this use of force and we appreciate the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's assistance with the scene investigation."

He noted that the only injury to law enforcement was the broken wrist Hearth suffered when he attempted the second PIT maneuver.

"Other than that, the only person who was injured is the arsonist who fled from our deputies and threatened them. For this I am very thankful," Judd said.

Neely's been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of arson, seven counts of fire bombing and one count of resisting arrest.

Judd said there will be other charges from his office, the FDLE, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Tampa Police Department.

FDLE Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell commended all the agencies involved in working together to halt Neely's crime spree. "He clearly had no regard for the safety of anybody today," he said.

Neely was previously arrested by the sheriff's office in 2016 and charged with disorderly conduct,
using a firearm under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest, according to the sheriff's office. He was taken into custody again by the sheriff's office in 2020 and placed in a mental health facility under the Baker Act.