CLERMONT, Florida—A man who claimed he stole a car and broke into a home because he believed he was drugged at a bar is facing a trio of felonies after residents of the burglarized home detained him and called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Early Saturday morning, LCSO responded to a report of a stolen car at McDonald’s, 16832 Corner Center Drive, Clermont and found that the victim left his car running in the parking lot. A man, later identified as Larry Lopez-Santana, 35, was captured on video at 2:15 a.m. walking up to the red Ford Focus, getting in and backing out before taking a left turn onto U.S. Highway 27, according to an arrest affidavit.
A Spanish-speaking deputy was summoned to the scene for translation assistance and located the stolen car, unoccupied, in the area of Markham Drive.
Just 35 minutes later LCSO received a report of a burglary in progress at a home on Markham Drive in unincorporated Clermont and when they arrived, they found Lopez-Santana detained by the homeowner. The homeowner said Lopez-Santana tore a locked to screen door to enter the patio and struck a sliding glass door with a metal chair, shattering the glass. Several people were in the home sleeping, including an infant who is less than 3 weeks old, according to the affidavit.
LCSO took Lopez-Santana into custody and found the keys to the stolen car in his pocket; he told deputies he was at a bar on U.S. Highway 27, and he believed his drink was drugged. He left the bar and walked to the McDonald’s parking lot where he believed he was being chased by people from the bar, the affidavit states.
Lopez-Santana admitted he stole the car, left his hoodie near the gate of the neighborhood where he was found and went to the house he broke into. Lopez-Santana was transported to the Lake County Jail where an Oxycodone pill was found in his sock. He is facing charges of grand theft auto, burglary of an occupied dwelling and introduction of contraband into a detention facility. He is being held on $18,000 bond.
