“Cowardly” North Florida Man Arrested After Stabbing Elderly Man, Stealing His Car In Polk County

HAINES CITY, FL. – A 32-year-old North Florida man was arrested and faces charges, including for attempted murder, after critically stabbing an elderly man and fleeing in the victim’s vehicle on Friday afternoon.

Christopher Lynn King, of Madison, is being charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery on a victim 65 or over, armed robbery, grand theft auto, carrying a concealed weapon, fleeing to elude, driving without a valid license, resisting arrest with and without violence, wearing a mask in the commission of a felony and battery on a law enforcement officer. He was also issued multiple traffic citations.

Wearing a black ski mask, King approached a 79-year-old man in a medical complex parking lot on Patterson Grove Road at about 1:30 p.m. King then stabbed the victim three times in the stomach with a foldable pocketknife with about a four-inch blade.

King took the man’s keys and fled north on U.S. 27 in the victim’s 2003 blue Toyota Matrix. Officers were able to locate the vehicle on U.S. 27 near Posner Park in unincorporated Davenport. After a short pursuit, deputies from the assisting Polk County Sheriff’s Office utilized the pursuit intervention technique (PIT) to disable the vehicle and get it off the road.

As the Toyota Matrix came to a rest facing southeast on the northbound side of FDC Grove Road, King exited the vehicle and began to run. King was quickly apprehended despite his attempt to fight law enforcement.

King was taken to AdventHealth Heart of Florida to be treated for minor injuries related to the crash before being transported to the Polk County Jail. No law enforcement officers were injured.

The victim was flown to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition. The investigation is ongoing.

“To attack an unsuspecting elderly man is an unconscionable and cowardly act,” Chief Jim Elensky said. “I applaud our officers and the deputies from the Sheriff’s Office, who are always willing to help, for their swift actions and relying on their training. We wish the victim a full recovery and will see to it, for his sake and the sake of his family, that this coward pays for these horrendous crimes.”

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