EUSTIS, Fla.—A boat owner timed a trip to get dinner just right when he spotted a man syphoning gas out of his boat as he drove by a Eustis storage facility Thursday night.
Around 5:15 p.m. Thursday, the boat owner was driving by Campus Storage, 36622 County Road 19A when he saw a man at the rear of his boat syphoning gas. He circled back around to the storage facility and the man was gone, he told Eustis Police Department. He checked his boat and found the motor cover lifted and the fuel line removed and dripping gas, according to an arrest affidavit.
The victim pulled out of the storage facility and spotted the man walking on County Road 19A, snapped his photo and called police. EPD arrived on scene and began looking for the suspect and found a tan Toyota Camry pulled off on the side of the road with its hazard lights and a handwritten tag that stated, “LOST TAG” and had some letters, numbers and a name on it. An officer spoke with a woman sitting in the passenger seat and she agreed to answer his questions, according to the affidavit.
The officer asked the woman about the syphoned gas and she told the officer she did not steal the gas and a man named “John,” later identified as John James Kerr, 45, had brought gas to her car after they ran out and then started walking toward 7-Eleven, at the corner of State Road 19 and County Road 44. She said John was her neighbor in Marion County and she would give him rides to the “scrapyard,” the affidavit states.
EPD set up a perimeter in the area with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and spent more than an hour searching for Kerr. While searching, they received a call about a suspicious male attempting to flag down vehicles near Raintree Boulevard and County Road 452. EPD responded to the area, found Kerr, took him into custody. Kerr, of Bellview, is facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief and petit theft. His mugshot and bond information were not available at press time.
