CLERMONT, Florida—Three Lake County men were arrested Sunday morning after a license plate reader alerted deputies that a vehicle involved in an Orange County carjacking was in Clermont, according to several arrest affidavits.
Shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted that a green Kia Soul involved in an early morning carjacking was in the area of U.S. Highway 27 in Clermont. Deputies began searching the area and located the SUV and attempted a traffic stop.
Jason Curtis Marks, 21, of Lady Lake, put the Kia in reverse and “intentionally struck the front push bumper of a marked patrol vehicle,” the arresting deputy stated in the affidavit.
Marks then turned left, drove over a median and began driving southbound on U.S. Highway 27, fleeing multiple LCSO marked units. Marks was speeding and driving “recklessly” near U.S. Highway 27 and Margaux Drive in Clermont and struck another vehicle, flipping the SUV he was driving, according to the affidavit.
LCSO took Marks, and his passengers, Jonathan Joseph Belcher, 22, of Lady Lake and Sheldon Anthony Shields-Wright, 21, of Leesburg into custody. Upon searching the vehicle, LCSO found two handguns, one being stolen out of Lake County and Marks was found with a ski mask and was wearing a black glove; Belcher had blue latex gloves, the affidavit states.
Marks was arrested for grand theft auto, fleeing and eluding, two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a concealed firearm and resisting an officer without violence; he is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
Belcher was arrested for resisting an officer without violence and possession of a concealed firearm; he is being held in LCJ on no bond.
Shields-Wright was arrested for resisting an officer without violence in this incident, along with armed carjacking in Orange County. He was released from LCJ Tuesday, and it is unclear if he is in custody in Orange County.
