News and Investigations

Fraud detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, following an investigation into identity theft from a deceased person and unauthorized credit card charges totaling thousands of dollars. 

24-year-old Jeffrey Ziegler is accused of committing the crimes beginning the day after the victim died on February 28, 2024. 

Between February 29, 2024 and March 12, 2024, numerous unauthorized charges were made on the deceased man’s credit cards totaling $10,362.02.

The charges went unnoticed until December 31, 2025 when family members going through the deceased man’s mail discovered past-due notices for all of the charges.

The fraud was reported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on January 2, 2026, and an investigation began.

It was learned that the deceased man lived with his daughter and her boyfriend at that time; the boy friend was identified as Jeffrey Ziegler. The daughter provided detectives text messages that had been sent to her from Ziegler in which he mentioned being at specific locations, and those texts matched up with the fraudulent charges.  

During the timeframe of his crimes, Ziegler was employed as a detention deputy at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. When he was arrested, Ziegler was employed as an officer with the Haines City Police Department.

“Knowingly stealing from someone who has died is just terrible. I’m not sure what he was thinking, but we are holding him accountable for his criminal behavior. This permanently ends his career in public safety, that’s for sure.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff    

Jeffrey Ziegler was booked-in at the Sheriff’s Processing Center and charged with Criminal Use of Personal Identification of a Deceased Person (F2), Grand Theft (F3), Fraudulent Use of Credit Card (F3), Unlawful Use of Two-Way Communication Device (F3), and Unlawful Possession of Personal Identification Information (M1).

“We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the alleged off duty behavior of former officer Jeff Ziegler. We expect our officers to uphold the law and maintain integrity on and off duty. Based upon the information we have reviewed, he exercised exceedingly poor judgment. His actions do not reflect the values of this department. We remain committed to accountability and maintaining the public’s trust. Had he not resigned, he would have been terminated.” – Joe Halman, Jr., Public Safety Director, Haines City

According to the Haines City Police Department, Jeffrey Ziegler submitted a letter of resignation effective immediately upon his arrest.