MOUNT DORA, Fla. — A Tennessee man who police say hit three vehicles, two AC units and house while taking a drunken ride through Mount Dora and Eustis, has been released from the Lake County Jail on $9,000 bond.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, Mount Dora Police Department responded to a hit-and-run that reportedly occurred at 4th Avenue and Donnelly Street in downtown Mount Dora. The victim in that crash told police the front of a grey Polaris Slingshot struck the corner of the front bumper of his truck, causing approximately $2,000 in damage. The victim said the Slingshot sped off and almost hit another vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.
While investigating that crash, dispatch received two more calls about hit-and-run crashes, one at State Road 44 and County Road 44B, near Circle K, where a vehicle was rear-ended and the third crash, 1.5 miles away at Eleven Oaks Circle and State Road 44, where another vehicle was rear-ended. The Slingshot took off down Eleven Oaks Circle until finally it crashed into two outdoor AC units and a home at 66 Eleven Oaks Circle, Eustis, causing an estimated $12,000 in damage, the affidavit states. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Eustis Police Department assisted MDPD with the incident.
The driver, identified as Canon Thomas Cofrancesco, 38, of Chattanooga Tenn., fled the scene on foot and jumped a fence before he was apprehended by an LCSO deputy. Cofrancesco, who had a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath, was detained and placed into the back of an LCSO patrol car. An MDPD officer later assisted Cofrancesco out of the patrol car while he reportedly slurred his words and stated, “These are my friends,” and said an officer has “very pretty eyes,” according to the affidavit.
An MDPD officer assisted Cofrancesco out of the LCSO patrol car and read him his rights. He refused to pay attention, refused field sobriety exercises and could not stand still, the officer noted. He was placed into an MDPD patrol unit for transport to LCJ and kicked the officer’s door. When they arrived at LCJ, Cofrancesco allegedly said he would kill law enforcement, the affidavit states.
While at the jail, the arresting officer conducted a 20-minute observation on Cofrancesco and then a breath test was conducted. More than 1.5 hours after the initial crash, Cofrancesco blew a .291 at 6:39 p.m. and .285 and 6:43 p.m., according to the affidavit—both samples more than three times the legal limit.
Cofrancesco was arrested for DUI (second offense,) DUI with property damage, reckless driving with property damage and three counts of leaving the scene of a crash.
