Eight teens are accused of ransacking a Dick’s Sporting Goods while on a Florida football trip and boy did they pick the wrong store.
While Philadelphia bends backward to “protect” criminals, Florida, not so much.
The eight suspects—ages 14 and 15—weren’t in Florida for fun. They were there with their United Thoroughbreds youth football team for the Prolifix Sportz National Championship. Instead, they allegedly stole 47 items worth more than $2,200. According to Judd, they “systematically” swept the store by splitting into groups: one teen made a legitimate purchase to mask the others stuffing merchandise into a Dick’s shopping bag.
Judd laid it out plainly: “They stole, and they stole, and they stole.” Hoodies. Lip guards. Football gloves. You name it.
But it didn’t take long for the sheriff’s office—known for its relentless pursuit of criminals—to shut the operation down. Store employees watched everything on surveillance. As Judd dryly put it: “Guess what… you can’t go anyplace, anytime that you’re not on camera.”
The eight were hauled off to a juvenile detention center, slapped with two felonies each—retail theft over $750 and conspiracy to commit retail theft—and they missed the championship game entirely. Judd couldn’t resist pointing that out:
“I don’t know if these were starters or not, but we were finishers.”
While the suspects sat in detention, their team got crushed 26–6 by the Coco Tigers. Judd didn’t mince words: “They let the team down. What about the rest of the kids on the team?”
He also revealed that the team’s coach tried to plead with deputies not to arrest the teens—a move that didn’t impress anyone in Polk County law enforcement: “They were not taking bubble gum, one piece to chew. They stole over $2,000 worth of products, over 47 different products.”
One commenter summed it up perfectly, praising Polk County’s famously tough sheriff: “Philly protects criminals. Florida doesn’t play!! Love that sheriff! He’s tough as nails.”
And “tough as nails” might even be understating it. Sheriff Grady Judd has built a national reputation for no-nonsense policing. This is the same sheriff who once told armed home invaders that homeowners in Polk County are “more than happy” to shoot them if needed; the same sheriff who straight-up advised criminals to “not come here to hurt anybody — because like the last guy, you’ll get shot.” So yes—these teens truly picked the wrong county.
Even Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chimed in, spreading Judd’s press conference and declaring: “They picked the wrong state — and the wrong county.”
