Duo Follows Intended Robbery Victim Into MDPD Parking Lot

MOUNT DORA, Florida—Two men who followed their intended robbery victim right into the parking lot of Mount Dora Police Department are behind bars on no bond.

Shortly before 1:30 a.m. Wednesday a man in a truck pulled into the parking lot of MDPD, followed by another vehicle. The man in the truck told police the vehicle had been following him since he was in Orange County, flashing its high beams at him and making him feel uncomfortable. As the officer spoke to the victim, a man exited the second vehicle and made statements, “about a small Hispanic officer that shot him and then began stating something about the Marine Corps and other incoherent items,” the arresting officer noted in the arrest affidavit. The victim then left the police department.

Police attempted to identify the driver of the second vehicle, and he gave them a false name and then gave them a second name, Lionel Malik Pierre, that matched description information in the Drivers and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID.) They later received information from Apopka Police Department, the man’s name is Leopold Pierre, 50, of Vero Beach and he has been known to use the alias, Lionel Pierre.

Police then attempted to identify the second male in the vehicle, who gave them an incorrect last name. They were able to identify him as Darion Waldo, 33. Waldo then told police the vehicle they were in was stolen and they were following the truck to commit an armed robbery on the driver, the affidavit states. He continued to tell police the pair “robbed” a female of the vehicle they were in and committed two other robberies in Orange County.

Waldo, of Sanford, told MDPD he did not want to take part in the robberies, but he did not do anything to stop them, or turn Pierre in. Police searched the vehicle and found a knife and ski mask. Waldo said the mask was his, but then said it was not his, according to the affidavit.

PHOTO: Mount Dora Police Department

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies contacted the owner of the vehicle at their home in Volusia County and the owner said his vehicle had been stolen earlier in the day, but he had not reported it yet. He responded to MDPD and completed an intent to prosecute; the driver of the truck also came back to MDPD and completed an intent to prosecute, the affidavit states.

MDPD sent out a Be On (the) Lookout (BOLO) to surrounding law enforcement agencies and Apopka Police Department reported they had an incident earlier in the day and they identified who MDPD believed to be Lionel Pierre, as Leopold Pierre.

After running a check on Leopold Pierre, police found he has a criminal history in Florida and South Carolina, but Lionel has no criminal history. Leopold had also used Lionel’s name as an alias in the past, according to the affidavit.

Pierre and Waldo were both arrested for false name to law enforcement, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, possession of burglary tools, aggravated stalking, grand theft of a motor vehicle and petit theft. Pierre was booked under Leopold Pierre in the Lake County Jail; both Pierre and Waldo are being held on no bond.

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