POLK COUNTY, Fla. — An ongoing investigation into illegal practices at a towing business led authorities to charge a man, already in jail for murder, and his wife with several felonies related to their actions, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced Thursday.
People at the Stoll Manor Mobile Home Park in Lakeland earlier this year began complaining about their cars being towed away at night by the Strapped Towing company when management wasn't there, the sheriff's office said.
According to investigators, the agreement with park management and the company only allowed cars to be towed in certain situations, such as when they block exits or park in the grass. Other rules such as if cars were immobilized, had flat tires or no plates, were supposed to be marked by a sticker. Management also should be told of any violations through email 24 hours of being stickered.
But the agreement was not being followed properly, Judd said. Between May 15-16, there were 19 cars removed from Stoll Manor, according to the sheriff's office. Owners reportedly were told they had to respond to the towing company's business and pay cash to retrieve them.
The business was about 16.7 miles away from the park, the sheriff's office said, which is in violation of Florida law as cars that are towed are supposed to be stored within a 10-mile radius from the removal location.
One of the cars involved belonged to Juan Barroso-Muriel’s brother-in-law, Judd said. Barroso-Muriel, his brother-in-law and his wife were seen on video on May 16 pleading with Strapped Towing owner Michael Denn to keep the car at the park. Despite Barroso-Muriel showing him the car tag and the car not appearing to be illegally parked, Denn towed the car, Judd said.
The next day, Barroso-Muriel and his brother-in-law went to Strapped Towing to get the car when a fight broke out.
Barroso-Muriel hit Denn and Denn's brother-in-law with his car and gets out, the sheriff said, adding Denn then approached Barroso-Muriel and shot him, leading to his death.
Judd reported that Denn claimed he was "standing his ground" when the police showed up at the scene.
"The victim, Juan Muriel, certainly would have been arrested had you simply called the sheriff's office for charging back in the vehicle and hitting your brother," Judd said. "But when the vehicle spins to a stop and Juan gets out of the vehicle without a firearm and you shoot him...and kill him...that's not stand your ground."
Denn was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and has been in the Polk County jail since.
Amid the towing investigation, Denn has been charged with 19 counts of storing vehicles outside a 10-mile radius, one count failure to have address properly marked on a tow vehicle and one count failure to stop tow at owner’s request.
His wife, Elissa Denn, was arrested on Aug. 11 and faces two counts for failure to have the company's address properly marked, in addition to the 19 counts.
"Here's the message," Judd said. "You better not do that [take advantage of hard-working people], because my detectives are not happy about it. I'm not happy about it."
"And we are going to be looking for the unethical people that are taking advantage of the hard-working, poor people just trying to get along in life."