Lake Wales, Florida – The owner of a Lake Wales dry cleaning business was arrested Saturday after threatening a customer and striking a female police officer.
The incident began when a customer called police and reported that James Franklin Brow (04/12/1957), owner of Long’s Dry Cleaners located at 10 W. Central Ave. in Lake Wales threatened to kill him during a dispute over services. When the officer arrived, she met with the victim and developed probable cause to charge Brow for assaulting the customer. When she went to identify and interview Brow to get his side of the story, he was irate, argumentative and closed the door on her.
The officer attempted to enter the business but Brow prevented her from doing so by holding the door closed. As she requested backup, Brow opened the door and told her to leave the property. At that time, the officer told Brow he was under arrest and attempted to take him into custody. Brow pulled away and violently resisted the officer’s efforts by striking her on the head and face several times with his fists. The officer was able to stop the assault, at which time Brow attempted to retreat into the rear of the business. She tried to use her Taser to temporarily incapacitate Brow, however it was not effective. As Brow retreated to the back of the business, he threatened to kill the officer.
The officer remained in the front lobby of the business and waited for backup to arrive. When officers entered the lobby, Brow re-emerged from the rear of the business, this time from the opposite side where he had originally retreated. Officers ordered Brow numerous times to get on the ground yet he refused to comply. Canine Hunter was released to apprehend Brow as he continued to resist officers by walking behind the counter and away from them. With the help of Canine Hunter, officers were able to get Brow to the ground and handcuff him.
The officer was treated and released at the scene for her injuries and Brow was transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center due to the canine apprehension.
Brow was Charged with (1) Assault, (2) Resisting an officer/arrest without violence, (3) Resisting an officer/arrest with violence, (4) Battery on a law enforcement officer, (5) Misuse of 911 and (6) Threat of death to a law-enforcement officer.
Brow has a previous 2018 arrest for Assault – domestic violence.
The location history for this business revealed numerous calls to law enforcement over the years for disturbances involving customers.
