FBI searching for Lakeland's Olivia Pollock days before scheduled trial on Jan. 6 charges

Gary White, The Ledger
·3 min read
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This image from the FBI arrest affidavit identifies Olivia Pollock of Lakeland as taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot.
This image from the FBI arrest affidavit identifies Olivia Pollock of Lakeland as taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot.

Olivia Pollock, a Lakeland resident scheduled to face trial Monday on charges related to the U.S. Capitol attack, has followed her brother in becoming a fugitive from federal authorities.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued bench warrants Tuesday for both Pollock and Joseph Hutchinson III, a friend and former Lakeland resident also charged with felonies connected to the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

The District Court’s pretrial services division received notification on Monday that Pollock and Hutchinson had either tampered with or removed the ankle GPS monitors they were required to wear as part of their release on bond, said Joe Boland, supervisory special agent for the FBI’s Lakeland office. Agents had not found either Hutchinson or Pollock as of Friday afternoon, Boland said.

“They have not been located or arrested,” Boland said Friday afternoon. “At this point, we're still making efforts to try to locate them.”

Joseph Hutchinson, in gray circle, is allegedly shown fighting with officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, in an image from a federal arrest affidavit. Jonathan Pollock is identified inside the green circle.
Joseph Hutchinson, in gray circle, is allegedly shown fighting with officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, in an image from a federal arrest affidavit. Jonathan Pollock is identified inside the green circle.

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Pollock’s younger brother, Jonathan Pollock, was indicted along with her and three others in June 2021 but was not at the family property in the Kathleen area when FBI agents arrived to arrest Olivia. Jonathan Pollock, 24, has remained a fugitive since then, and the FBI has offered a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Hutchinson now lives in Georgia, and his case was separated from those of Pollock and two co-defendants, Joshua Doolin of Polk City and Michael Perkins of Plant City, after he asked to represent himself at his trial.

Boland said that FBI agents have interviewed Olivia Pollock’s family members, who live on a shared property near Lake Galloway. A sign posted on the family property since 2021 refers to those charged with Jan. 6 crimes as "political prisoners."

Olivia Pollock, 32, is charged with assaulting law-enforcement officers, entering and remaining in restricted grounds, disrupting government activities and engaging in violence on the U.S. Capitol grounds.

Pollock and Perkins are accused of assaulting police officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during a violent protest by supporters of former President Donald Trump objecting to the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Doolin is charged with disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and theft of government property, among other alleged crimes.

Pollock was in the Lakeland area when the pre-trial services office detected that her GPS monitor had been tampered with, Boland said.

The bench warrants for Pollock and Hutchinson were unsealed during a court hearing Friday in Washington, D.C., Boland said. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is presiding over the trials of Olivia Pollock, Doolin and Perkins.

The trial, scheduled to begin Monday, will proceed as scheduled in case Pollock appears, Boland said. If she doesn’t, the trials of Doolin and Perkins will begin Tuesday.

The defendants have waived their rights to a jury trial and will instead face a bench trial, with the verdict decided by Nichols.

Hutchinson, 26, is a friend of the Pollock family and previously worked in a Lakeland gun store operated by Gabriel Pollock, another sibling. Hutchinson moved to Georgia after his indictment in 2021. He has received permission several times to travel back to the Lakeland area for events, including Doolin’s wedding.

Boland asked that anyone who has information about the locations of either Pollock or Hutchinson contact the FBI at www.fbi.gov or call the Tampa office at 813-253-1000.

The Pollocks and Hutchinson are among seven current and former Polk County residents indicted on charges related to the U.S. Capitol attack.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

Correction

An earlier version of this story said Joshua Doolin was the person identified in the green circle in the photo. That person is Jonathan Pollock.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Two of Lakeland's Jan. 6 defendants become fugitives days before trial