Trust Broken: Former Polk Deputy Arrested for Falsifying Time Cards

iSkyNews and Media May 08, 2026

Mark Rodriguez, 39, was booked into the Sheriff’s Processing Center on Friday evening, May 8, 2026, charged with Public Servant Falsifying Official Records, Unlawful Use of a 2-Way Communication Device, and Petit Theft.

Mark Rodriguez, 39 / PCSO

By Staff Reporter

iSkyNews.com (ISN) – Published May 8th, 2026

TRUST BROKEN: FORMER POLK DEPUTY ARRESTED FOR FALSIFYING TIME CARDS

DAVENPORT, FL — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has arrested one of its own, after a Davenport community realized the protection they paid for was nothing more than a falsified digital log.

Mark Rodriguez, 39, was booked into the Sheriff’s Processing Center on Friday evening, May 8, 2026, charged with Public Servant Falsifying Official Records, Unlawful Use of a 2-Way Communication Device, and Petit Theft.

The investigation began when the Westridge Homeowners Association noticed something wasn’t right. Rodriguez had been hired to provide a law enforcement presence in their neighborhood on May 1st from 5:00 am to 8:00 am. While he remotely marked himself present in the community, he was never actually there.

In a sobering investigative interview, Rodriguez admitted to detectives that he never entered the neighborhood during those hours. Instead, he spent that time working his normal shift, attending briefings and answering other calls—essentially double-dipping while leaving the Westridge residents unprotected.

The former deputy later accepted a deposit of $135.97 for the work he never performed.

"Honesty is a cornerstone of law enforcement, and Mark Rodriguez showed that he can’t be trusted to be a deputy," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "His criminal conduct should be an embarrassment to him, and is certainly an embarrassment to the agency."

Rodriguez, who was hired as a trainee in November 2023, chose to resign during the investigation. Sheriff Judd made it clear that had Rodriguez not quit, he would have been terminated immediately.

Tonight, a man sworn to uphold the law finds himself on the other side of the bars, leaving a local community and his former agency grappling with a significant breach of public trust.

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