A Haines City man found wearing a WHFD Recruit shirt and a PCSO Grady Judd cowboy hat is spending the holidays behind bars – without the shirt or the hat.
On Christmas morning (December 25, 2025) at approximately 7:00 a.m., Winter Haven officers responded to Winter Haven Fire Station 1, located at 301 Ave. G SW in Winter Haven to a suspicious person on the property.
When officers arrived, they located 22 year-old Daniel Alejandro Puga of Haines City wearing a Winter Haven Fire Department Recruit uniform shirt and in possession of the unique Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd cowboy hat. Puga was detained as officers started their investigation.
After reviewing security cameras on property, Puga was seen entering a door in the administrative building along the northeast side of the building at 5:00 a.m. While inside, Puga proceeded to take a shower and rifle through the administrative offices obtaining the Recruit shirt and helping himself to candy that was in the offices.
Fire Department members stated that the office where the clothing was located appeared to be in disarray. Members confirmed that Puga did not have permission to enter the building and that the offices were closed up on December 23, 2025 at 5:00 p.m., prior to Christmas Day.
Shortly after Puga was taken into custody, a citizen called to report a truck at JC’s Customs had a broken back window with a door open. Officers investigated the location and made telephone contact with the registered owner of the vehicle, who was currently out of town.
According to the owner, he works at the business and parked the truck on December 23, 2025 and made sure to secure it prior to leaving town. As officers spoke with the victim and they inventoried the truck for him, the only thing he indicated that was missing was a Polk County Sheriff’s Office Grady Judd cowboy hat. The owner told the officers what size the hat was and they traced it back to Puga, who had the hat in his possession.
Puga was booked into the Polk County Sheriff’s Processing Center and charged with one count each of:
Burglary of Unoccupied Structure (F3)
Burglary of Unoccupied Conveyance – Unarmed (F3)
and
Two counts of Petit Theft (M2
