Via Breaking 911:
Lake Wales, FLORIDA — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Lake Wales man Thursday, November 12, 2020, after he committed a series of crimes over several days, some while he was accompanied by an eight-year-old child.
36-year-old Ernest McKnight III was booked-in at the Polk County Jail and charged with: Burglary of an Occupied Dwelling (F2), Burglary of an Unoccupied Dwelling (F2), Burglary of Unoccupied Conveyance (F3), Grand Theft Motor Vehicle (F3), Tampering with Evidence (F3), Petit Theft (M1), and 3-counts of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.
When asked by a detective why he had the child with him, McKnight replied, “I was trying to toughen him up…I don’t want him to be soft.”
“Taking a child out with you while you’re committing felonies is not the proper way to create a positive influence. I’m quite confident that there is not a child psychologist out there who would agree with this guy’s idea of proper activity for a child,” s