Lakeland, FL – Tuesday, September 14, at approximately 8:15 a.m., a Lakeland resident reported the theft of a 2020 Kia Forte to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Two hours later, another resident reported a stolen Toyota Tacoma. The Toyota owner used a mobile app to locate the vehicle in a field off Parker Street West, where deputies found both stolen vehicles concealed from road view.
The PCSO Forensics Investigations Unit processed the vehicles, recovering fingerprints from the Kia’s exterior hood, driver’s door, and a rear door, as well as from items inside both vehicles. The latent print cards were analyzed by the PCSO Identification Section through databases, identifying the fingerprints as belonging to 14-year-old Eluterio Koenig, a known offender on probation since December 2024 for prior theft convictions.
Detectives interviewed Koenig, who admitted to being in the area where the Kia was stolen, initially claiming he was “riding in the Kia.” He later confessed to stealing both the Kia and the Toyota, discarding the Kia’s key and leaving the Toyota’s key inside the vehicle. The vehicles were returned to their owners following processing.
Koenig was arrested and charged with two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle (third-degree felony), two counts of burglary (third-degree felony), grand theft of a controlled substance (third-degree felony), and violation of probation (second-degree misdemeanor).
Sheriff Grady Judd stated, “Last week was National Forensic Science Week, where we take time to express our appreciation for our forensics investigators, identification technicians, and latent print examiners – and this case is just one of thousands of examples of how integral they are to solving crimes and putting criminals in jail. I’m so proud of these agency members who work so hard behind the scenes to help keep our citizens safe.”
