Eight Juveniles From Philadelphia Busted In Polk County Florida For Retail Theft
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Eight kids from Philadelphia realized they are not in Philly anymore when they allegedly stole over $2000.00 from Dick’s Sporting Goods on I-40. According to Carrie Horstman, from the Polk County Sheriff Depaertment, “I-4 runs east to west and this store is in a large shopping center. We always have deputies patrolling.the area”.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, The juveniles were identified as Daimon Johnson (15), Mark Bryan (15), Ibn Mahdee Abdul Haqq (14), Elijah Myers (14), Tymir Speller (15), Marcus Hudgens (15), Tymir Smith (14), and Jacob Scott (15). (Per Florida State Statute 119, information about juveniles charged with felonies is public record.)
The eight suspects were formed into two separate groups: Johnson, Bryan, and Abdul-Haqq were inside Dick’s walking around looking at merchandise. The second group – Hudgens, Myers, Speller, Smith, and Scott, then entered the store, and Hudgens made a purchase near the front of the store. He met up with the rest of the suspects in the middle of the store with his Dick’s Sporting Goods bag, and the other suspects proceeded to place merchandise inside of it. Johnson, Bryan, and Abdul-Haqq took the bag, passed all points of sale, and walked out of the store, where they were detained by law enforcement. Abdul-Haqq had stolen merchandise inside of a black backpack, and Bryan had the bag from the store with over $2,000 worth of stolen goods inside. The other five suspects were located and detained inside of the store. Speller had a beanie concealed inside his pants.
The team, United Thoroughbreds were scheduled to play a championship game later that night. December 6,2025.
There kids were in Florida to play in a football championship for the Atlantic Coast Youth Athletic Association. They were going to play the CoCoa Tigers, who went on to win the championship, because eight of their opposing teammates were sitting in jail. “The score was 26-6, they did not just beat them, they ran over them”, said Judd.
The kids took an Uber to the store to steal. The team’s coach, Raekwon Bynes, 29, of Philadelphia, responded to the Dicks and pleaded with police and store management to not press charges. Sheriff Judd said that Bynes is a loser for is actions of not knowing where his team was and when it was evident that the charges would not be dropped, for his berating of the deputies.
All eight were taken to juvenile lockup where they were released to their parents. “There was one player who did not go into the store at all. Did not participate in the theft, he was not arrested and not charged with anything. He got to play football,” Horstman said.
The charges include Felony Retail Theft and related offenses.