The following story was previously published on Lake Legal News.
LEESBURG, Florida — A man who has been booked into the Lake County Jail a dozen times since 2015 is behind bars again, facing multiple charges from two different cases.
On Friday, a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a home in Eustis on a stolen truck complaint. The victim told the deputy he drove the truck to a home in Umatilla on Thursday night to visit a friend; the truck had mechanical issues and he left it front of the friend’s home. Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the friend heard a vehicle pull up and the truck start, and she assumed the victim picked it up.
The victim told the deputy the truck had GPS tracking and it showed the truck was on Lakeview Avenue in Leesburg. An LCSO deputy in the area of the truck responded to the address the GPS was showing and saw the truck parked out front and Austin Dean Chaudoin, 24, standing outside the truck, according to an arrest affidavit. Chaudoin got in the truck and the deputy made contact with him. Chaudoin exited the truck and the deputy noted the keys were in the ignition and the truck was running. The deputy believed Chaudoin was attempting to flee, but was struggling to operate the truck since it had a manual transmission, the affidavit states.
Chaudoin was taken into custody and found to have multiple warrants stemming from an incident earlier this month in Tavares. In that case, Chaudoin is accused of burglarizing a home and shooting a man in the wrist on Maplewood Street on April 13.
The victim told Tavares Police, Chaudoin, who he knows as “Bobo” knocked on his door wearing a mask, snatched the door open and shot at him. The victim said he grabbed a BB gun and shot back and the pair began struggling for the gun. The gun discharged twice, once near the victim’s face and the second time, striking him in the wrist. Chaudoin then fled the residence and efforts to find him were unsuccessful. Tavares Police filed the warrant for his arrest on April 21.
Chaudoin, of Astatula, is charged with armed burglary, aggravated battery and vehicle theft. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on $37,000.
