Marilyn M. Aciego

EUSTIS, Fla.—A man suspected of an armed robbery in Eustis Friday is in the Lake County Jail on $50,500 bond.

According to Eustis Police Department Chief Craig Capri, a man reported he was robbed of his wallet that contained around $400, his identification and a Cash App card Friday afternoon on East Hazzard Avenue. He told police the suspects were in an older blue SUV and a black Volkswagen, and he was walking on the side of a home in the 1200 block of East Hazzard Avenue when he felt two firearms on his back. He said two men, one he identified as Jeremy Stephon Battle, 34, told him to give them everything he had and pulled his pants down.

The two men then walked up to a third man and handed him something the victim was unable to see, and all three men fled the scene.  Officers began canvassing the area for the men and the vehicles and spotted a newer model black Volkswagen passing on a double line near Hicks Ditch Road. An EPD corporal soon found a Volkswagen backed into a parking spot at Treasure of Hope Stop and Play internet casino, located at 37847 North State Road 19, Umatilla. The corporal ordered the occupants out of the car at gunpoint and a woman exited the car with a small child, along with a man quickly identified as Cameron Blair, 21.

Blair, who is well-known to law enforcement, had an active warrant for a variety of crimes and was placed under arrest. Officers spotted a Glock 19 9mm tucked between the front passenger seat and the center console in plain view and within reach of Blair. He was transported to the police department and questioned about the robbery, and later transported to the Lake County Jail on the warrant and additional charges of carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Details on the warrant were not available at press time, but Blair is facing several charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (domestic,) possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, lewd or lascivious molestation and domestic battery. He is being held on no bond. He was not charged in the robbery, but the case is still under investigation, EPD Sgt. Paul Barnett told Inside Lake.

Officers continued searching the area for Battle, the suspect in the robbery, and found him standing in the yard of a home in the 100 block of Bates Avenue. He made eye contact with an officer and took off running. Officers set up a perimeter and with the assistance of a Lake County Sheriff’s Office K9, they found Battle hiding in a tent in the backyard of the home. He was taken into custody and transported to the police department for questioning.

Battle, who was captured on video speaking with the victim, was still wearing the same clothes when he was taken into custody.  He denied being a part of the robbery and said “I” did not rob anyone with an emphasis on “I,” and “making it sound as if he were present, however did not commit the actual crime,” the arresting detective noted in the affidavit.

Battle, 34, was arrested for armed robbery and resisting arrest without violence and transported to LCJ, where he is being held on $50,500 bond.