LAKE WALES, Fla. — Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested a commissioner with the city of Lake Wales on two felony charges Thursday.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Lake Wales City Commissioner Kristen Fitzgerald was taken into custody on one count of interference with child custody and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The Sheriff's Office said the case came about after Fitzgerald allegedly took a child from their home without permission and threatened the child with a firearm.
"We don't expect this kind of behavior from anyone, but especially someone in public office. She should be held to a higher standard and should be setting the proper example - instead, she displayed what not to do as a human being," Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "Her conduct, threatening a child with a gun, is horrendous."
Fitzgerald remains in the Polk County Jail as of Friday morning.
