EUSTIS, Fla.—A Eustis man was arrested Friday, accused of exposing himself, and this isn’t the first time.
Around 7:30 a.m. Eustis Police Department responded to 326 Glover Street on a report of a naked man standing outside the home. An officer spotted Mark Ronald Banks, 56, who was fully exposed, standing both inside and outside his front door. The officer yelled at Banks to put clothes on as he approached the home and Banks went inside and refused to open the door, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police spoke to the complainant who said his teenaged daughters told him they saw Banks standing outside his home naked. The father told his girls to look away while he confirmed what they believed they saw. He told police Banks was naked and bent over outside of his residence and he could see his sexual organs from the roadway as he drove by. The father said he recognized Banks from driving by his house twice a day while transporting his daughters back and forth to school, and from a previous job he had, the affidavit states.
About an hour later, the arresting officer was driving back down Glover Street, and he saw Banks walking south on Glover Street near Orange Avenue. Banks was taken into custody and was told he was being arrested because the officer observed him standing outside naked. Banks reportedly said he was, “placing clothing outside to dry because his house smelled.” Banks was arrested for two counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition, two counts of exposure of sexual organs – prior conviction and one count of resisting arrest for refusing to open his door when the officer knocked on his door. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was being held on no bond at press time.
Banks was arrested for a similar incident in August 2022. In that case, a neighbor accused Banks of standing at his doorway naked and masturbating while facing Glover Street on numerous occasions. The neighbor told police he observed Banks masturbating naked two to three times a week at 7 a.m. for six months, according to an arrest affidavit in that case.
A maintenance man for a nearby apartment complex told EPD he installed a fence panel to try to block Banks from view and the maintenance man said while he had never seen Banks masturbate, he had seen him stand naked in his doorway several times a week. When officers located Banks, they explained there were some complaints about his sexual behavior, and he immediately said, “I don’t do that,” the affidavit states. He appeared nervous and again said, “I don’t do that.” He was questioned about both standing at his door naked and masturbating and repeated, “I don’t do that.”
He was arrested and bonded out the same day. He failed to appear in court for that charge, and a warrant was issued for his arrest in September 2022. He spent a little over two months in jail, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to time served.
Less than two months ago, Banks was arrested again for petit theft, fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest stemming from a shoplifting incident at Dollar Tree, 1800 North State Road 19, Eustis on July 17. EPD responded to Dollar Tree on a shoplifting complaint and the accused thief had already left when officers arrived. Using the description provided by employees, an officer found the suspect, identified as Banks, driving his blue motorized scooter along the sidewalk on Grove Street near East Wilt Avenue. An officer ordered him to stop and he kept traveling on his scooter, ignoring the officer’s commands. As Banks approached East Bates Avenue, he was tased but still continued to ride away. He was tased again, fell from his scooter and was taken into custody. He was transported to LCJ, where he remained until pleading no contest to two of the three charges on Aug. 28, and was sentenced to time served, according to Lake County Clerk of Court online records. The fleeing and eluding charge was dropped.
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