Winter Haven, Florida – Winter Haven Police have located and arrested Leonard Lee Steelman, Jr. after he attempted to hide in a local park. Sometime between 4-3-13 and 4-4-13, Leonard Lee Steelman, Jr. ( DOB 11-2-71, of Roselawn St., SW, Winter Haven) took a victim’s bank card and made several unauthorized transactions.
Citizens had been advised that Steelman may have been extremely dangerous. Steelman has an extensive criminal history which includes Attempted First Degree Murder, Rape, Robbery, Burglary and Grand Theft. Steelman was most recently released from Florida State Prison in Aug. 2012.
On 4-8-13 at approximately 6:10 p.m. officers responded to Steelman’s mother’s Winter Haven home after they were notified he was at the residence. When officers arrived, Steelman had fled. Assisted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Air Unit, officers conducted a search in the Lake Howard Nature Park area where a Winter Haven K-9 officer located Steelman hiding in a wooded area of the park.
Steelman was found with a seven-inch hunting knife concealed in his waistband. Steelman was booked into the Polk County Jail on charges of Grand Theft, Theft of Credit Card, Resisting Officers Without Violence and Carrying A Concealed Weapon.